A Rose Hidden by Shadows
by Child of Wind and Wolves
Summary: A girl hears rumours, ones that lead her to the infamous Host Club. Upon finding an old friend she also finds secrets. What could she do when it involves none other then the Shadow King?
1. Episode One

A Rose Hidden by Shadows

Chapter One~ New Beginings

I sat under one of the trees at my school, tears running down my cheeks. I looked down at my papers which lay crumpled and torn in front of me. I tried to rearange the papers and tried to straighten them out, only to end up crying hard over the fact that they wouldn't be able to be fixed.

"Hey, something wrong?" I heard someone ask from infront of me. I looked up to see a girl about my age, maybe younger, with brown hair and soft brown eyes. I nodded my head before looking down at the messed up papers once more. "What happened to your papers?" she asked when she looked at my papers.

"S-Some bullies t-tore them up." I said, sniffling and trying to stop crying.

The girl knelt donw in front of me and said," Don't let them bother you. Here, I'll help you with your papers." The she started to stack up the papers and straighten them out a bit. She smiled and handed the papers to me.

I smiled at her and took the papers as I said," Thank you. My name is Chouko, what's your's?"

"I'm Haruhi." she said as we both stood up.

"Haruhi, would you want to play with me?" I asked, hoping to have made a friend.

Haruhi smiled and said," Sure, lets go."

~Time Skip~

I walked around the dark woods, wondering how I had gotten there. I looked around, trying to see if there was a way out of the woods but found none. I kept walking the way I was going, noticing what seemed to be light somewhere up ahead. I quickened my pace and finally reached it, noticing quickly that the the light was from a wreaked car. I ran over to the driver's side and said," Hey are you okay?" as I tried to pry open the door. That was when I noticed the person driving the car, Gakuto, my old driver. I backed away from the car, glancing in the back seat and finding a little girl with long brown hair. I shook my head before whispering," No, this can't be." I took off running in the opposite direction of the car, noticing a shadowy figure up ahead. I noticed that the figure was taller then me with a few locks not brushed back. "Things are going to change soon." was the last thing she heard, the voice saying it was unfamiliar but calm and cool.

~End~

Chouko shot up in her bed, fighting to regain her normal breathing pattern. The dream, no nightmare, she had just seen was more of a memory to her. Chouko slung her legs over theside of the bed and held her head in her hands. "Why would I be remembering that. It happened nine years ago, why is it coming back now?" she asked no one. The girl sighed before standing up and streatching. She quickly noticed the time and said," Aw, really? I woke up two freaking hours before I need to go to school?" Chouko then walked into the attached bathroom and got ready for school.

Chouko walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, wearing her uniform. Luckily she had talked the chairman into letting her wear a variation of the Ouran girls uniform. Instead of the yellow dress that many of other girls wore, she wore the white shirt and blue blazer with a black, purple, and white checkered skirt. For shoes she just wore simple black flats.

~At Ouran~

Chouko sat down in her regular seat before a commotion was made at the door. She looked up and noticed a tall blonde and a dark haired boy standing at the door. Girls from the class had surrounded the blonde as he spoke to them all about something or another. Chouko sighed slightly, going back to reading the book she had brought to ward off boredome, when she heard something interesting.

"Yes we do have a new host. His name is Haruhi, he is also the scholarship student. If you would like to meet him then come to the Host Club after classes." the blonde said.

Chouko sat, thinking to herself about how familiar the name was. Then it clicked, her friend from when they were little, Haruhi Fujioka. "it can't be the same person. He just called that Haruhi by he, not she. But I guess it's worth checking out." she though.

~After Classes~

Chouko followed behind a group of girls from her class. She had heard them earlier talking about going to the host club after classes were over. Chouko was cuious as to if she did know this scholarship student or not. The group of girls arrived at the Third Music Room and quickly walked in. Chouko stopped at the doors, watching inside, now quite unsure about her idea of figuring out whether or not she knew this student.

"Hey, why are you over here by the door? Why don't you come in and sit with one of the Hosts?" a boy with short brown hair and saft brown eyes asked.

"You wouldn't happen to be Haruhi Fujioka by any chance?" Chouko asked, he voice soft and slightly nervous.

The boy looked at her oddly before saying," Yes, I am Haruhi. Why were you asking?"

Chouko smiled and said,"So it is you, I wondered what happened to you after I moved. I lost your number so I couldn't call you anymore. Oh yeah, it's me, Chouko, remember?" Haruhi thought for a bit then smiled, reconizing her friend from days already passed.

Soon the two were sitting in the club, talking about things that have happened since they last talked. Haruhi didn't have any requests that day so it was all fine. The two were catching up when a voice called," Haruhi, it seems that some of the guests are out of tea. Would you be so kind as to refill their teacups?"

Chouko quickly looked around for the source of the voice, reconizing it but not being able to remember where. Before Haruhi got up Chouko found the source of the voice, the same dark haired teen that was with the tall blonde in her class earlier. "I could make the tea, I'm a pretty good cook so I could also make cakes and such. That is if you don't mind me doing so." she said, walking to the teen whom she reconized as Kyouya.

He looked at her from beind his glasses before saying," I guess it would be of benifit to the Host Club for you to be the cook."

Chouko smiled and said," Thank you, Ootori-san." before hurrying off to the kitchen, after having it pointed out by Haruhi, to start her new daily duties.


	2. Episode Two

A Rose Hidden by Shadows

Chapter Two~ Feelings Behind Music

Chouko walked along the sidewalk dressed in a pair of black jeans that were boot cut and a dark violet shirt that covered the pockets of her jeans. There was a black rose design on the shirt and an elastic belt going around her waist. She wasn't really paying much attention to her suroundings but more to the music playing through the earbuds in her ears.

"I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin. I must confess that I feel like a monster. I hate what I've become, the nightmare's just begun. I must confess that I feel like a monster" Chouko sang along with the lyrics, shaking her head along with the beat of the music before she suddenly bumped into someone and fell down. Chouko looked in front of her and saw Haruhi before saying," I'm sorry Haruhi. I wasn't watching where I was going." she said as she quickly got up and helped her friend up.

"Oh, it's okay Chouko. What were you doing out?" Haruhi asked, brushing small pebbles from her shorts and shirt.

"I don't know actually. I just wanted to get out for a while. What about you?" Chouko said, pulling one of her earbuds out so she could hear Haruhi over her music.

"I was just heading out to the grocery store. You want to come too?" Haruhi said, pointing to the list in her hand. Chouko just nodded her head before following her friend to the store. As the two walked they were talking about random things that had happened and such. The two laughed at random things as they picked up the groceries.

Haruhi led Chouko into her apartment and said," You can make yourself at home." Chouko nodded before walking into the living room and finding the host club.

"Uh, Haruhi? Did you leave these guys here or do we have a breaking and entering situation?" Chouko asked, looking at the host club who were watching her.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you they were here today. I blame Hikaru and Kaoru for this, they never would've been here had it not been for that feud they had." Haruhi explained, walking into the living room and standing next to Chouko.

"My daughter has a girlfriend! I'm so happy!" Tamaki exlamied before leaping up to hug the two. Chouko just stepped to the side, causeing Tamaki and Haruhi to hit the ground.

Chouko started to laugh before saying," Sorry Haru, I thought you moved too." through her laughing fit. It wasn't amusing that the two hit the floor as much as the position they were in. After the laughing fit, Chouko helped Haruhi up while Tamaki retreated to his corner of mushrooms, which seemed to follow him.

"What are you wearing, Chouko?" Hikaru and Karou said in unison while they stood to examine her style.

"Just a shirt I picked up from some store. I forget which though, why?" Chouko said. She looked at her clothes, it was her normal style.

"We thought you came from an upper class family," Hikaru said on her right.

"So we assumed you bought designer clothes." Karou finished.

"It's because my family raised me so I wouldn't depend on money my whole life. I mean at any moment our stocks could go down or our busnise could be bought right out from under us. Money can't last forever." Chouko told them. "That's also why I went to public school until I was in high school. Then my parents transfered me to Ouran my first year of high school."

Tamaki, who had come out of the mushroom corner, walked oevr to Chouko and asked," Why don't I remember you from last year then?"

"Simple, Tamaki. You were too busy traveling with me to notice her." Kyouya said, pushing his glasses up slightly.

"Then how did you remember her?" Tamaki asked Kyouya.

"I'm the class president, I was introduced to her when she transfered to Ouran. Just like I was with you, only less energetic." Kyouya said calmly.

Chouko smiled slightly before saying," Yeah. Ootori-san was one of the first people I met at the school." She had actually knew him a little more then the originally though, having learned about him in their classes and such. Chouko never really noticed how much she seemed to watch him and Tamaki, reminding her idly of her and Haruhi. After that was said Chouko took a seat and watched as all the others conversed and such. She was happy that she could get to know a group like this, such an odd group.

A/N

Sorry for the shortness, this idea came due Monster by Skillet. Actually the original idea was changed as I went along but oh well, everything is starting to move along, slowly but surely. Also I want to thank Secretly Strange for the review. That was the first one I've recived for this story and made me want to write more for it, but I got writer's block shortly after T_T Sorry for the wait everyone.


	3. Episode Three

A Rose Hidden by Shadows

Chapter Three~ Lost in Thoughts

I walked down the stairs, rubbing one of my eyes to rid it of sleep. I stopped three stairs from the bottom when I saw quite a few suitcases sitting around the door. I looked around for my parents, knowing what this meant. "Momma? Dad?" I asked, looking around as I stepped off of the staircase.

"Chouko? What are you doing up already?" my mom asked when she walked into the room.

"I woke up to get a glass of water. Are you going to be leaving again?" I asked, looking back at the luggage that seemed to answer my question already.

"Yes honey. We need to make sure everything is okay with all of the other restaurants. We'll be back before you get out of school the end of this year, okay." my dad said as he walked out of the kitchen, finishing a cup of coffee he was holding.

I smiled and nodded my head. I hugged my mom before running over to my dad and hugging him while saying," I love you"

~End~

I woke up slowly to the annoying ringing of my alarm clock. I turned it off and sat up, rubbing my eyes with the heels of my hands. "Mom, Dad. I hope you two are okay wherever you may be." I said sadly before getting up and heading to the bathroom.

I stood under the running water, thinking about things. Mostly I was thinking about my parents. I hadn't seen them since they left before the end of my last year in middle school. I hoped that they were okay, but I had my doubts. I didn't want to doubt that they were okay but I guess that's human nature. I sighed slightly before pouring some of my favorite shampoo in my palm and rubbing it into my short hair.

~Normal POV~ Ouran~

Chouko walked through the gates of Ouran and started towards the Third Music Room. Once she got to the room she walked in, surprised to find it unlocked and empty,

"Hey, anyone in here?" She asked loudly before shrugging and heading to the kitchen to start making the snacks for the day. Chouko plugged her mp3 player into the small speaker she carried in her bag and pressed play. She loved to have any form of music playing when she was doing work so the small speaker helped her greatly. The first song that played was one of her favorites and one that she loved to sing along with. (A/N I had one song in mind but I'm not going to use it. Although I will include the name and artist in the final author's note, it is a really good song. All I want to do is share it, although if you don't like j-pop then you might not like it)

"The season fades and you think everthin's lost in the waves. Like a spark in your eyes, so your love will be mine. When the sky is going to light and shine. You take my hands and I think that time will give me one more chance." Chouko sang along with the music playing, swaying slightly as she cooked. "Do you remember a kiss under the moonlight? When it was summer,it was love at first sight. Can you remember, cause i feel the same now, until the winter. Will see blooming, this love." she continued as she placed some cookies in the oven and started to mix the cake batter. Soon after the song had finished and was playing the next one in her playlist.

"Wow, I have such an odd taste in music. I mean it goes from Dj Satomi to Yoko Kanno." she said to herself, smiling slightly at her mp3 player. She shrugged slightly before singing along with the second song.

Been a long road to follow

Been there and gone tomorrow

Without saying goodbye to yesterday

Are the memories I hold still valid?

Or have the tears deluded them?

Maybe this time tomorrow

The rain will cease to follow

And the mist will fade into one more today

Something somewhere out there keeps calling

Am I going home?

Will I hear someone singing solace to the silent moon?

Zero gravity, what's it like?

Is somebody there beyond these heavy aching feet?

Still the road keeps on telling me to go on

Something is pulling me

I feel the gravity of it all

Chouko smiled at the thought of the short song that sounded so beautiful to her. Suddenly she heard a voice behind her say," You do have an odd taste in music but somehow it suites you."

Chouko jumped, being startled out of her calm, before turning quickly to find it was Kyouya who had spoken. "Odd music for an odd person I guess." she said before returning to the cake she was working on.

"You should sing for the host club. It would be sure to bring in more customers." Kyouya said, walking into the kitchen.

Chouko turned, having finished with the cake, and leaned against the counter. "Well I can play piano and guitar. I guess it's worth a shot." she said, thinking of the idea as she wiped her hands on a hand towel.

"Good, the piano is set up by the east window. You can use it this afternoon if you like." Kyouya said before turning and leaving the kitchen. Chouko nodded slightly before going back to her cooking, thinking over what she might sing.

~After Classes~ Host Club~ Chouko's POV~

I walked into the club room, knowing what I was going to play. I was one of my many favorites and was a piano piece. It It was also a song that my mom had shown me and I loved so it had that going for it too. I greeted everybody before bringing out the snacks I had made earlier in the day. After everyone was settled I walked over to the piano, taking a seat. I quickly did some warm-ups before the customers walked in. I noticed some of the others giving me questioning glances but I just gave them a smile. I was really hoping this would go over well.

Soon the customers walked in and I waited until everything was settled before I took a deep breath and started to play the song.

Head under water

And they tell me to breathe easy for a while

The breathing gets harder, even I know that

Made room for me but it's too soon to see

If I'm happy in your hands

I'm unusually hard to hold on to

Blank stares at blank pages

No easy way to say this

You mean well, but you make this hard on me

I'm not gonna write you a love song

'cause you asked for it

'cause you need one, you see

I'm not gonna write you a love song

'cause you tell me it's

Make or break in this

If you're on your way

I'm not gonna write you to stay

If all you have is leaving I'm gonna need a better

Reason to write you a love song today

I learned the hard way

That they all say things you want to hear

And my heavy heart sinks deep down under you and

Your twisted words,

Your help just hurts

You are not what I thought you were

Hello to high and dry

Convinced me to please you

Made me think that I need this too

I'm trying to let you hear me as I am

I'm not gonna write you a love song

'cause you asked for it

'cause you need one, you see

I'm not gonna write you a love song

'cause you tell me it's

Make or break in this

If you're on your way

I'm not gonna write you to stay

If all you have is leaving I'm gonna need a better

Reason to write you a love song today

Promise me that you'll leave the light on

To help me see with daylight, my guide, gone

'cause I believe there's a way you can love me

Because I say

I won't write you a love song

'cause you asked for it

'cause you need one, you see

I'm not gonna write you a love song

'cause you tell me it's make or break in this

Is that why you wanted a love song

'cause you asked for it

'cause you need one, you see

I'm not gonna write you a love song

'cause you tell me it's make or break in this

If you're on your way

I'm not gonna write you to stay

If your heart is nowhere in it

I don't want it for a minute

Babe, I'll walk the seven seas when I believe that

There's a reason to

Write you a love song today

I sang along with the piano, starting to think of things other then the people around me. I was more thinking of my mom and wondering if she was okay. Once I finished the song I was brought back to reality by people clapping. I looked around and noticed that some of the customers were clapping.

"Thank you." I said, smiling. It had gone over better then I had hoped for, which was very good.

"Chou-chan, that was great!" Hunny said as he bounded over to me.

I smiled at the small senior and said," Thank you, Hunny-senpai." Soon after I was talking with some of the customers who were curious as to who the artist was and why I choose that song. I told them that I had picked that song because it was one that my mom showed me.

Overall that day was very interesting, and possibly the day that led up to even bigger things for me.

A/N

Well there is chapter 3. I titled it a little different then the way it was written, which is very common for me. Any way I'll list the song I used and the song I wanted to mention here is a second. Also a warning that I should've included in the first chapter, I post this on two websites. Fanfiction and Quizilla, just in case I reference anything from either of the two sites and confuse someone from the other site. Also I want to say thank you to Secretly Strange who reviewed last chapter and the first chapter. I do have to say, I don't write out my plans for my stories, like I don't write out the plot line. I should really do that but I mostly write down any major ideas I have, two of which are on my cell phone cause I got them while I was going somewhere.

Songs

It's Party Time- HaliCali (The song i mentioned earlier)

Waves- Dj Satomi

Gravity- Yoko Kanno (Wolf's Rain ending actually XD)

Love Song- Sara Barellies

Thank you for reading,

Areikoto/Lilmszen


	4. Episode Four

A Rose Hidden by Shadows

Chapter Four~ Curious Misunderstandings

I woke up to the annoying ringing of my alarm clock, muttering about getting a different clock. I sighed slightly as I turned it off and sat up. I stretched before throwing the covers off of me and getting out of bed. The first thing I did when I got out of bed was stub my toe on my night stand. "Today isn't going to be a good day." I whined slightly as I walked to the bathroom to get ready for the day, not really knowing how right I was.

~At School~

I walked towards my classroom, thinking about a song that I couldn't remember the name of. I walked into the room and took my seat, still trying to remember the name of the song. I sighed slightly before saying," I wish I remembered that name. I guess I'll just search the lyrics when I get home." I looked in my messenger bag for my math book, that being the first class I had for the day, and couldn't find it. I shook my head before looking again, still to no avail. I took off my glasses and rubbed my eyes in frustration. "How could I forget my math book?" I said before walking up to the teacher. I told him that I had left my book at home and asked if he had another I could borrow.

"Sorry Chouko but I don't have any extras. Kyouya?" He called Kyouya up.

"Yes, sir?" Kyouya asked, glancing slightly at Chouko.

"Would you share your text book with Chouko? It seems she has forgotten hers at her house." the teacher asked.

"Yes sir, it wouldn't be a problem." Kyouya said. The teacher gave a nod and Kyouya turned to walk back to his desk.

I followed him, unsure, before asking," Should I grab my chair?" Kyouya simply nodded before taking his seat. I walked over to my desk and grabbed my pens, pencil, and notebook before placing them in my chair and taking it over to Kyouya's desk. "Uh, thank you for sharing your book with me, Ootori-san." I said after taking my seat, noticing many girls giving me glares. 'Today is going to be a long day, I just know it." I thought to myself before looking at Kyouya's open math book.

"You're welcome Makoto-san." Kyouya said before the teacher started the lecture.

~Host Club~

I walked into the host club and saw Hunny, Mori, Hikaru, and Kaoru already getting dressed in the cosplay. "Chouko!" Hikaru and Kaoru called before walking over to me.

"Huh?" I asked looking between the two, noticing that they were wearing matching kimonos.

"Our mom designed the kimonos for everyone. Yours is already in the dressing room." The two said in perfect unison. I nodded before heading to the dressing rooms. I walked into it and saw a dark violet kimono with a dark blue design and a lighter blue obi. I smiled at the design before putting it on and getting dressed in it.

Afterwards I walked out of the dressing rooms and noticed that everyone had arrived and were in the process of getting ready. I waled over to the piano and started to do warm-ups, preparing for when the club opened to the public. I knew what song I was going to do, it was similar to the one I had done previously and another one that I liked. Once everyone had gotten settled with their guests I started to play.

Keep drinking coffee, stare me down across the table

While I look outside

So many things I'd say if only I were able

But I just keep quiet and count the cars that pass by

You've got opinions, man

We're all entitled to 'em, but I never asked

So let me thank you for your time, and try not to waste anymore of mine

And get out of here fast

I hate to break it to you babe, but I'm not drowning

There's no one here to save

Who cares if you disagree?

You are not me

Who made you king of anything?

So you dare tell me who to be?

Who died and made you king of anything?

You sound so innocent, all full of good intent

Swear you know best

But you expect me to jump up on board with you

And ride off into your delusional sunset

I'm not the one who's lost with no direction

But you'll never see

You're so busy making maps with my name on them in all caps

You got the talking down, just not the listening

And who cares if you disagree?

You are not me

Who made you king of anything?

So you dare tell me who to be?

Who died and made you king of anything?

All my life I've tried to make everybody happy

While I just hurt and hide

Waiting for someone to tell me it's my turn to decide

Who cares if you disagree?

You are not me

Who made you king of anything?

So you dare tell me who to be?

Who died and made you king of anything?

Who cares if you disagree?

You are not me

Who made you king of anything?

So you dare tell me who to be?

Who died and made you king of anything?

Let me hold your crown, babe. (If these lyrics are incorrect forgive me, I got them from elyrics)

I sang along with the piano, thinking about the meaning behind them. I was happy with this, doing something I enjoyed with people who seemed to accept me. As I finished the song I smiled slightly. Then as the last key rang I turned on the bench to look at the other members. I noticed a girl standing by the entrance of the club, seeming to hide. I watched from my seat as the twin talked to her before Tamaki started.

I watched as he went to cradle her chin before she roughly shoved him away shouting, "No! Don't touch me! You're phoney!" I quickly stood up and went to stand next to Haruhi as the newcomer continued to insult Tamaki. I watched as he seemed to fall in slow motion, wondering how that was even possible. Then once Kyouya started to ask if she was who he thought she was the newcomer ran up to him, saying she wanted to meet him.

~Later~

I stood next to Haruhi as Hikaru asked why he was still moping.

"It's because Mommy was keeping a secret from Daddy" Kaoru said.

I looked at him oddly before Kyouya said," Why does everyone insist on refering to us as husband and wife?"

Then Renge, whose name we learned not long ago not to mention that she was apparently Kyouya's fiance, started to go on about something being love at first sight. I wasn't really paying attention, I was too busy trying to figure out why the thought bothered me. It wasn't supposed to, I mean it's not like it's an uncommon thing for there to be arranged marriages. Then I heard Tamaki say something about an otaku.

~Time Skip~Next Day~

Everybody in the host club sat around, talking about Renge being the female manager, as she proclaimed the other day. The twins just asked about why Tamaki thought it wouldn't be a bad idea.

"Well it's fairly obvious, isn't it? Renge just transferred into the same class as Haruhi. So if Haruhi has a girlfriend around then maybe it could bring out the female within her. Rege's girlish air of tenderness might be able to stimulate Haruhi's own since of femininity. Now is our chance to help Haruhi get in touch with her feminine side." Tamaki said.

"Hey, do I not count or something?" I asked, a little angry that they had overlooked my already exsisting friendship with the person in question.

"But you're more of a tom-boy. You don't act too feminine." Kaoru stated.

"Yeah well that's the way we are. I can be girly, I just choose not to because it gets annoying after a while." I said with a slight shrug. "Besides, you can do more things when dressed as a guy that you can't do in a dress or skirt." I said with a slight laugh.

"What kind of things?" The twins asked curiously.

"Well climbing trees. I don't do that but yeah. Play basketball, and such." I said, thinking about it.

Overall, it was an interesting couple of days. At least for me.

A/N

Well, this one was more with the plot of the episode. Probably doesn't help that I was listening to the episode as I wrote this to get certain parts of the dialogue right. The song I used was King of Anything by Sara Barellies, again. Also I would like to share a video I found on youtube using that song and Ouran actually. http : / / www . youtube . com / watch ? v = A6nBf7ZpnIo Just take out the spaces cause I'm really not sure how fanfiction feels about links. Also want to thank EmeraldGreen4Life for reviewing last chapter. Thank you so much, reviews make me really happy and want to write more for the reader.

Areikoto/Lilmszen

PS. I support HaruxTama, as shown in the video. Also support KyoxTama, but oddly enough not HaruxKyo. XD Random ramblings from the author.


	5. Episode Five

A Rose Hidden by Shadows

Chapter Five~ DDR and Scars

I sat on my bed, lap top sitting on my stretched out legs, typing away whatever came to mind. I hadn't been working on much because I had no good ideas. With a sigh I closed my laptop and placed it on the bed, slowly getting up from the soft cushion it provided. I looked around my room, trying to find something to do to alleviate my boredom before something in the corner of my room caught my attention. I smiled saying," Oh yeah. Haven't played that in a while."

~Haruhi's POV~

'Next time I won't say out loud that I'm going to Chouko's house. Now the club knows where she lives too.' I thought to myself as I led the group up to the front door of Chouko's house. I knocked, or at least attempted to knock, when the door opened. 'Hmm, she must not have closed it well.' I thought before walking inside. "Hey Chouko! The host club decided to tag along with me to come see you. Chouko?" I asked, hearing some repetitive thumps coming from her living room.

"Chou-chan! Do you have cake?" Hunny asked as he ran into the living room, stopping dead at the door. I followed him and found the source of the thumping. Chouko stood in front of her TV with a DDR pad set out under her, playing. The only bad thing was, she was wearing nothing more then a sports bra and a pair of short pajama shorts.

I hurried over to her and tapped her on the shoulder. Chouko looked at me and smiled, saying," Oh, Haruhi. I forgot you were coming over today. Let me finish this game and I'll make some tea."

"Uh, Chouko..." I started only to be interrupted by the twins.

"Wow, we didn't know you did things like this in your spare time." the two said in unison, walking into Chouko's view.

Chouko looked at them, eyes wide, before looking back at the doorway to find the rest of the host club standing there. A dark blush crossed her cheeks as she turned and ran from the room and up the stairs.

"You guys stay in this room. I'll be right back." I said before walking up the stairs and trying to find Chouko's room.

~Chouko's POV~

I sat on my bed with my hands covering my face, asking why I just embarrassed myself like that. Suddenly there was a knock at my door and I heard Haruhi ask," Chouko? Can I come in?"

"Sure, the door is open." I said still on my bed. I reached beside me and put my glasses back on. Once Haruhi was in the room I looked at her and said," Well I can expect to hear about this for the next two months. I really wish I hadn't have forgotten you were coming, then I wouldn't have started DDR."

"I should've called you to tell you that the host club was coming too. I completely forgot about how you play DDR in your house." Haruhi said, taking a seat next to me.

I sighed slightly before standing up and waking over to my dresser. I pulled out my favorite pair of jeans and my favorite band t-shirt before turning to Haurhi and saying," Could you go down and tell them I'll be down in a few minutes. And that anything they break they have to pay for." Haruhi laughed slightly before nodding and leaving the room. I sighed once more before changing into the short sleeved shirt and worn jeans.

Soon I walked down the stairs to find everyone sitting in the living room, talking about something I didn't catch. "Hey guys." I said, giving them a slight wave, feeling the blood rush to my face again. I walked into the room and took a seat between Haruhi and the arm of the couch.

I saw the twins start to say something with that mischievous smirk of theirs only to hear another voice ask," Makoto-san, what happened to your arm?"

My eyes widened as I instinctively placed my left hand on where I though bandages were, only to feel skin. I sighed slightly before lowering my head and saying," It's kind of a long story."

"Oooo, a story!" Hunny said before looking at Chouko expectantly.

"Well it happened back when I was about 9. So I guess about 6 years ago. I was coming home from school with my driver, Gakuto, not really paying attention to anything really. Gakuto and I started talking, he was a kind man and always talked fondly about his children, when suddenly the car started to move oddly. It started spinning before suddenly coming to a crashing halt. My arm hurt really badly and I noticed that the door on my side was bent in and had caused a large wound on my arm. I started to cry and tried to ask Gakuto what happened but when I looked at him his skull was cracked open." I shivered at the thought before continuing," It took a while for rescue to get there. Gakuto was killed upon impact and my arm was broken. I didn't speak for nearly a year afterwards, not even when my parents came back wanting to spend time with me."

"I remember that. You changed after that you know." Haruhi said, thinking back to the time.

"That's bad. What caused the crash, Chou-chan?" Hunny asked

"A drunk driver veered into our lane and Gakuto swerved to avoid hitting them. There were tire marks where they had done it. Because of someones stupidity two children lost their father and a woman lost her loving husband!" I spat angrily. Because of one person thinking they could drive so many lives were changed.

"It's okay Chouko. That was the past, it can't be changed." Haruhi said from beside me, trying to calm me down.

I sighed slightly before saying," I actually wasn't supposed to go to school that day. I had a dentist appointment around lunch and I wasn't supposed to go back to school but it ended early. I wanted to go back to school and hang out with you and my other friends and because of that we were on the road the same time as that driver." I still blamed myself for it, even though it was out of my control, I felt like if I hadn't wanted to go back to school then he wouldn't have died there.

"Chouko, how many times do I need to tell you it wasn't your fault? You didn't know what was going to happen so you didn't do anything. I bet you that Gakuto wouldn't want you to be blaming yourself for this." Haruhi said a bit angrily.

I smiled at my friend before turning to everyone else and saying," I'll go make us some tea or coffee or something. I'll also bring out a cake, it might not be good because I never tried it before but it's worth a shot." I then got up and walked into the kitchen.

~Normal POV~

Haruhi shook her head slightly before saying," She just never listens. I guess that's the way she is though." She looked around and noticed that everyone, with the exception of Mori and Kyouya, were staring at her. "What?"

"You never told us that happened to Chouko. Actually you never told us anything about her." Hikaru and Kaoru said in unison.

"Because it wasn't my place to tell you. She would've told you in time." Haruhi said.

Suddenly Tamaki jumped up and was twirling Haruhi while saying," My daughter is soooooo thoughtful!"

Chouko walked back into the room carrying a tray with a few cups, a teapot, and a cake with some forks on it. She noticed Tamaki and Haruhi and smiled slightly. 'Bout time she found someone, even if neither of them know yet.' Chouko thought to herself as she walked into the room and place the tray on the coffee table.

A/N

Well this chapter was a bit odd but it gave some explanation of Chouko's past. I did a plot outline of what I want to happen but I'm finding it troublesome to follow it. Oh well, I'll have it all worked out soon. The next chapter might be a time skip and I warn you, the events might be in the wrong order. I'll try to keep them in order but that might be a little more difficult. Also thanks to Shadow Mistress-of death and SarahELupin for reviewing chapter 4. I WAS going to post this yesterday but when I woke up I found our internet was down. It was down until around midnight and by that time I had a lot of things I needed to check on. Anyway I hope that this is a good chapter.


	6. Episode Six

A Rose Hidden by Shadows

Chapter Six~ Lost Findings

I stood before the entrance of the large maze, debating whether or not to go in. I sighed slightly before walking in saying," Hopefully curiosity didn't kill the cat." I made many turns and came across many dead ends. I continued on, now trying to find the way out of the maze. They sky was quickly growing darker and I wasn't even sure where I was anymore. I sighed slightly, wondering why I had to listen to my curiosity. I knew I should've just went to the club room and waited for the last class to be over. Our teacher had given us the last half of the class free to do what we wanted and somehow I ended up outside in front of the maze.

I stopped walking around and pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. I quickly dialed Haruhi's number and pressed send, waiting for her to pick up.

~At Club~

Haruhi sat with her customers, talking to them about random things. She wondered where Chouko was but decided to text her later to find out. Suddenly her phone started to ring and she excused herself from the girls and walked a short distance away.

"Hello? Chouko? Where are you? How did you...You should know better by now. Okay I'll ask someone just don't wander off. Okay, bye."

Haruhi hung up the phone with a sigh and walked over to Kyouya. "Kyouya-senapi, would you happen to know how to get through the maze in the garden?"

Kyouya looked at Haruhi curiously before asking," Yes. Why are you asking?"

"Chouko got lost in the maze and can't find her way out. I was asking you because you seem to be the only one that wouldn't get lost in there with her." Haruhi said, giving the club a quick look over.

With a sigh Kyouya stood up and apologized to the girls that were standing around. He dismissed Haruhi before quickly walking out of the club and to the garden where the maze was located.

~Back in the Maze~

I sat down where I was standing and leaned back on my hands. I wasn't sure if the walls of the maze were just hedges or had something else but I wasn't about to test my luck. Suddenly I felt something drop onto my head. I looked up and found that it was starting to rain. I sighed slightly before standing up and brushing off my skirt. "Why did I have to come in here? Now I'm lost and it's starting to rain." I sighed before pulling my mp3 player out of my skirt's pocket and placed the earbud in my ears. I listened to the song playing before it was over and a new one started. The next one I started to sing along with, loving the sound of the music and the way it flowed.

Hi, Miss Alice

Anata garasu no

Me de donna yume wo

Mirareru no?

Mirareru no?

Mata atashi

Kokoro ga sakete

Nagarederu

Tsukurotta

Sukima ni sasaru

Kioku-tachi

Hi, Miss Alice

Anata kajitsu no

Kuchi de dare ni ai wo

Nageteru no?

Nageteru no?

Mou atashi

Kotoba o tsumaku

Shita no netsu

Same kitte

Mederu outau mo

Utaenai

Still, you do not answer

I looked up at the gloomy sky, the rain coming down. I smiled slightly, the song reminding me of a couple shows that I liked. As I thought of them I smiled. 'Maybe I could get the club to cosplay them. The ladies seem like they'd like vampires.' I shook my head slightly, looking back down as the rain continued to soak through my uniform.

"Chouko? There you are, come on. You were late for club." I looked over to see Kyouya standing there, also being soaked by the rain. I nodded and followed him out of the maze and back to the school.

~At Club~

"I'm really sorry, Ootori-san. Because I got lost you got soaked." I said with a slight bow, my wet hair slopping over my shoulders.

"It would've been wrong as a gentleman to leave you out there in the rain when I could find you." Kyouya said, rubbing his hair with a towel.

"Still I'm very sorry. I could've avoided this entire thing by not going in there." I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest. I wasn't trying to come off as angry or anything, it's just the school had great air conditioner and it wasn't really fun to be soaked while in it.

Suddenly I felt something warm and dry draped on my shoulders. I looked at it and noticed it was a dry towel. "You need to dry off, there should be a spare set of clothes in the changing room." Kyouya said before turning and walking to the changing rooms. Even though he had walked away I still nodded my head and walked to the back.

I walked out of the changing room, still messing with the small bow around my neck. I sighed slightly as I walked back out, thankful that club was almost over. "Aw man. I still have to go home." I said, hanging my head slightly.

"Why is that a problem?" Hiakru asked from his seat next to Kaoru.

"Oh, I kinda have to walk home. I shouldn't have changed cause I'm going to get soaked again anyway." I said, getting ready to go back into the changing rooms.

"I could give you a ride home, Makoto-san." I heard Kyouya say.

I smiled and said," Thank you so much, Ootori-san." He just nodded and continued to finish the last things that he needed to do before leaving the club. I sat down, thinking about riding home with Kyouya. I felt heat rise to my face and thought,' I really hope I'm not falling for him. If I am, this might not turn out too well.' before dismissing the thought.

A/N

Sorry for the shortness, unless you like short chapters. That is something that someone needs to tell me, do you like short chapters or or you like long chapters? Anyway I'll include the English translation of those lyrics.

Hi Miss Alice

With your glass eyes

What kind of dream

Can you see?

Are you fascinated with?

Still

My heart tears

And drifts

Stuck in the patched crevices

Are memories

Hi Miss Alice

With that fruitful lips

To whom does love

Is cast away?

Is lamented?

Already

I spin my words

Feverish tongue

Has turned cold

The song to love

Can't be sung either

Still you do not answer

It is Still Doll by Kanon Wakeshima. Also tell me if you would like to see the Host Club cosplaying as characters from Vampire Knight and/or Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler. It's just a random idea I had so yeah. Reviews, rate, and banners would be loved.

Arei/Lilmszen


	7. Episode Seven

A Rose Hidden by Shadows

Chapter Seven~ Eyes and Questions

I sat next to Kyouya in the back of his limo, watching the rain hit the windows and drip down. I was still trying to figure out my thoughts from earlier, heat rising to my face again.

"Makoto-san, are you feeling well?" Kyouya asked, having noticed my blush.

I nodded my head before saying," Uh, yeah. I'm fine." I sighed slightly before facing forward, trying to look a Kyouya out of the corner of my eye. Then I sighed before thinking,'I have fallen for him. That's why I was upset about Renge. I was jealous.'

"Makoto-san, are you sure you're alright? " Kyouya asked again, making me wonder a little bit about why he was asking. I guess he didn't want a Host Club member to be sick and miss a day.

"Yeah but could you just call me Chouko? It seems like it would be easier that way." I said

Kyouya nodded his head slightly before saying," Then you can call me Kyouya." He smiled and I watched him, curiosity getting me.

"Um, Kyouya? Could I see something real quick?" I asked quickly, still watching him.

"I guess so, what is it?" He asked Once he answered I quickly leaned over and gently took his glasses. I could tell he was a bit shocked, his eyes widening a bit from it. I stared into his eyes for a short bit before gently placing his glasses back on his nose.

"Hmm, that's cool." I said, pushing my own glasses up with my index and middle fingers.

"May I ask what that was about?" Kyouya asked coolly.

I felt heat rise to my cheeks again as I said," I wanted to know what color your eyes actually were. They always seem like a dull gray but if you let emotion show they turn a dark brown. I think the dark brown looks better though." What I was saying was the truth, the dark brown color looked better then the cold gray that his eyes always seemed to be.

Kyouya looked at me curiously. "Hmm that is interesting, I always assumed my eyes were gray."

"I think that the lack of emotion you let into your eyes gives them the appearance of being gray when they are actually a very dark brown. You should show more emotion, it makes your eyes look very attractive." I told him before quickly looking back out the window to the rain drenched world around the limo. I mentally slapped myself for saying things like that but they were true. If he let emotion into his eyes, then Kyouya looked very kind.

"Hmm, I'll keep that in mind, Chouko." Kyouya said from beside me. I saw his reflection facing me before turning back to the laptop located in his lap at the time. This is going to be the hardest two years of school I'll ever know.

~The Next Day~

I walked into the club room, expecting it to already be full of girls squealing at the hosts doing their own things. What I was met with defiantly surprised me, the room was quiet except for the club members talking about the upcoming Christmas ball.

"Chou-chan! We were just discussing ideas for the winter ball in a month." Hunny told me once he noticed I had walked in.

"Oh, so today was the club meeting, that's why it was quiet around here. Well except for Tamaki yelling at the twins." I laughed slightly when the three stopped and looked at me questioningly. I walked over and took a seat next to Haruhi and asked her what was already decided. Soon the meeting was in full swing and everyone was talking, well Kyouya, Hunny, Haruhi, and myself were. Tamaki was still after Hikaru and Kaoru for some stunt they pulled and Mori rarely talked as it was.

"So everything has been decided?" Everyone present nodded their heads before Kyouya continued," Then I'll go ahead and start making preparations and reserve the main ballroom for the event." I wasn't fully hearing what was being said, mostly I was concentrating on what I was going to wear. I know a month is early but sometimes I like having an excuse to wear a nice dress and such.

"Hey Chouko. Our mother has some winter ball dresses she's working on." Hikaru said

"So maybe you could wear one of those for the ball." Kaoru finished.

I smiled slightly before saying,"You two are mid readers, I swear. That would help me out a great deal more then having to search stores and such for a nice dress and your mother does have really nice designs, I actually have some at my house."

The twins nodded before heading off to their house, seeing as the meeting was already over. Haruhi said her goodbyes, as did I, and we both left together. "So you actually have some clothes that the twin's mother designed?"

"Yeah, they were really nice designs, its about the only expensive thing I own besides my computers and mp3 player." I told her, holding up my mp3 player. Actually that was just an off-brand but it was really good. I mean I lost it in the snow for a week, and it worked again.

Soon we arrived at my house, Haruhi's being a few blocks away, and said our bye's. I quickly went into my house and went up to my room. On my calendar I wrote the date for the Winter Ball and smiled slightly. I was hoping that it would be a nice night for once. I sat down on my bed before just plopping backwards onto it. This following month wasn't going to be fun, in fact the anticipation leading up to the ball would be killing me.

"This is going to be the roughest two years in my entire school career." I sighed before rolling on my side and falling into an early sleep.

A/N

Okay so this chapter is a little weird cause it continues on from last chapter, something I rarely do. Anyway I think the next chapter might be the ball but I NEED help. What do you, the readers, think would look good for Chouko as a ball gown/dress? I have no idea really, I don't want to reuse the dress and such I used last time but other then that I have no idea. BTW that one was based on a dress I have in real life, I wore it to the 8th grade dance. XD Anyway, the other dress is found on the first version of this story which is still posted to Quizilla and not Fanfiction. Any help would be appreciated because I want to get the next chapter out somewhat quickly while I have the ideas in my head.

Arei/Lilmszen

P.S The eye color idea came from a drabble I read a little earlier. Entitled "Eye Color" by Hope-Hazard you might want to check it out.


	8. Episode Eight

A Rose Hidden by Shadows

Chapter Eight~ Snow and Confessions

I stood in my room looking at the dress I had picked out. I was supposed to be getting ready for the ball which was going to take place in an hour or two and I still needed to get ready. Hikaru and Kaoru had decided they were going to do my hair and make up but there wasn't really much they could do with my short hair. I sighed slightly before putting on the dress and matching heels, muttering about hating heels.

After I was finished putting on my dress and shoes I called down the hallway to where the twins were waiting. The two quickly came into my room and started to work on my hair. They said they were just going to put a headband in and straighten my wavy hair. As for make up Kaoru went to work, applying a small amount of blush and eye shadow. The final thing was a light colored lip stick.

The two stepped back and said," Finished." in unison.

I smiled slightly before saying," Now you two need to go get ready." They nodded before hurrying off to get ready for the ball. Then I got a call on my cell phone and quickly answered it.

"Chouko? I'm going to be going past your house so I'll pick you up." I heard Kyouya say from the other side.

"Oh, okay Kyouya. About how long?" I asked, glancing at the clock to see there was a good 15 minutes before the ball started and getting there would take about 5.

"I should be arriving shortly. Be ready to leave once I arrive." Kyouya said before hanging up. I hung up my cell phone and placed it back in my purse. I wasn't actually going to take my purse because I didn't have one to match my dress. I placed it down on my bed before carefully making my way out of the room and into the living room.

Soon I heard a knocking at my door and got up to answer it. When I opened the door I saw Kyouya and gave him a smile. "I'm ready." I said. Kyouya simply nodded before leading me to his limo. Once inside the limo I looked over to Kyouya before saying," Thank you for the ride."

"It wasn't a problem." Kyouya said. "We will be arriving to the ball soon. Then there's only the finishing touches on everything. It should all go according to the plan."

I sighed slightly before looking out the window of the limo. Really I didn't go to things like this much and each time I did it made me nervous. I mean I wasn't ever as fancy or anything like that. I didn't know the first thing about fashion nor did I know how to apply more then lipstick, eyeliner, and eye shadow. I sighed again, realizing I was a total tom-boy.

Once we arrived to the school I waited until Kyouya's driver had opened the door before getting out. I looked at the school with a slight smile before following Kyouya into the ball room. It was perfectly decorated for the occasion. I smiled, looking around the room at the decorations and noticing the orchestra that was sitting near a large staircase, warming up for the night's events. It held promises that tonight was going to a be a good night.

Soon the ball was getting started, the guests were arriving and all of the Host Club members took up their places on the large staircase. I was standing next to Haruhi, who was wearing a nice suit. I had to say I felt out of place with the host club on the staircase, even though I was a member I didn't do more then cook and play background music on the piano. They announced a contest like thing for the best dancer before starting the event.

I slowly made my was down the stairs, talking to Haruhi about the night's expectations. Then I heard someone behind me ask for a dance. I looked back to see a boy around my age with shaggy brown hair and warm brown eyes. I smiled before saying," Sure."

I danced with the boy, whose name I learned to be Hoshi, for the entire song. Once the song was over I excused myself to get a drink and found Haruhi standing near the concession stand. "Hey Haruhi. How's your night going so far?"

"It's going pretty good so far. No one has wanted to dance with me yet so that's a good thing." She said with a slight smile.

I smiled at her before pouring both of us a glass of punch. I offered her a glass. "But the night is still early. Someone might ask you yet. I just kinda want to get out of these heels, they're killing my feet."

Haruhi laughed slightly before saying," I bet. I'm glad I don't have to wear those. I'm lucky that way."

I playfully pushed her arm and said," Yeah, you had to join a club full of handsome boys, and a cute little one." I looked over to the cake and saw Hunny eating away happily. Mori was standing guard over him, watching over everything but never really saying anything. "Well I'm going to go walk around and check out everything that is going on." I said, giving a slight wave to Haruhi as I walked away.

I walked along the outside of the dance floor, looking at all the people dancing. Some were dancing with hosts, others were dancing with other guys. I smiled slightly seeing how many people were happy about this event. Then I bumped into someone but before I could hit the floor an arm wrapped around my waist and kept me in balance. I looked up to the person and noticed that it was Kyouya.

I stepped out of his grasp and said," I'm sorry Kyouya. I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going."

Kyouya looked at me before saying," I wasn't looking where I was going either." I nodded slightly before noticing that the song playing had ended and a new one was starting up. I smiled slightly at the melody, it seemed to be fitting of a Host Club ball for some reason. "Chouko, would you do me the honor of dancing with me?" I heard Kyouya ask.

I looked over at him and saw that he was holding out a hand while looking at me. I smiled slightly before saying," Yes, I would love to dance with you." I put my hand in his and he led me to a place on the dance floor where we started to do the same dance as many of the others around us.

I blushed slightly, thinking about how I was dancing with Kyouya. Then something in the back of my mind hit me, telling me that it was just his hosting duties. After thinking about I sighed slightly but still enjoyed the short time I danced with him. After the song ended I excused myself and found and unoccupied balcony that looked over the snow covered gardens of Ouran.

I sighed slightly as I leaned on the railing, shivering slightly when the snow came in contact with my bare arms. I was a nice clear night out but it was very cold since the sun had went down a good few hours ago. I sighed slightly, thinking about miscellaneous things but my mind mostly wandered to the dance I shared with Kyouya.

"I am falling for him. I can't believe this, I've only been a part of the club for a couple months now, I guess that's the way I'll forever be doomed to be." I muttered to myself, thinking I was alone. Then I felt something warm draped over my shoulders.

I turned around to see Kyouya standing there, his suit jacket not on him. I started to blush a bit, thinking he had heard what I said.

"The contest is just about to end. Would you like to come back inside and see who the winner will be?" Kyouya asked me. I just nodded before following him back inside, holding the sides of his jacket closer to me.

'Yeah, I fell for him.' I thought to myself, only to be brought out of my thoughts by a light shining over me and people watching me. I looked around, wondering what was going on when the twins' voices reached my ears.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the winner of this contest it Chouko. Now she will receive her prize." The two said into the microphone. I looked at them in shock, not noticing that someone was walking towards me. I saw Hikaru and Kaoru smirk at me before feeling something warm and soft against my cheek and girls squealing around me.

Once it stopped I looked over to see Kyouya, the smirk that he seemed to wear most of the time. I felt the heat rise to my cheeks and heard the twins laughing.

'I'm going to get them for this.' I thought to myself, trying to get the dark blush to go away.


	9. Episode Nine

A Rose hidden by Shadows

Chapter Nine~ Broken Hearted Discoveries

I sat in my classroom, watching the breeze outside the window ruffle the tree leaves. I sighed slightly, the thoughts racing through my mind not giving me a second of peace. The dance, the kiss, did it mean anything to him. Why did it mean so much to me? These thoughts, they all raced through my mind even though the dance was in the past now. The teacher's voice became background noise along with the whispered murmerings of the students, my mind having been lost in my thoughts for some time already. So I did the first thing I thought of, and started to draw.

"That is an interesting concept indeed. Why were you drawing that?" A voice asked from in front of my seat. I looked up and saw Kyouya standing there, looking down at the drawing on my desk.

"Ah, well it was just a way to get my thoughts out. Nothing more I guess." I said, puting the drawing in my binder. "Did I miss the bell again?" I noticed the people leaving the room.

"Yes you did. Well I guess I'll talk to you at the club, right Chouko?" He said, a glare hiding his eyes like it always seemed to do. Hiding away his emotions. Gah, off topic again!

"Hai, now you should probably be getting to lunch of the line will be really long." I said, smiling up to him. Kyouya just gave a nod and walked out of the classroom, me watching him until he was out of sight. "I really need a break from everything for just a while to sort out my thoughts. It seems everything is moving and I'm just staying still. I hope this feeling leaves soon." I grabbed my bento to eat next on the window seal.

I stood in the kitchen fixing some cake for Hunny-senpai and dancing slightly to the song stuck in my head. My thoughts had cleared a little bit and I had figured out a few things. I was in the middle of mixing the batter when I heard the door open.

"Just a second, I need to get this in the oven or it won't be done before the club is over." I said over my shoulder, pouring the batter into a cake pan.

"Chouko, this is really important, you need to stop for a little while." The person said, I reconized as Tamaki.

I turned around and looked, noticing that the entire host club was standing there. "Um, guys? What's this about?" I asked, getting a bit worried at the looks on their faces.

"Chouko, that plane that your parents were on fro Europe, they found it. It went missing for a couple years and they just found it. Everyone aboard was killed in the crash. We're so sorry Chouko." Tamak said solomly. I just stared at him, tears already forming at the corners of my eyes.

Then I turned and took off running. I started to run away from them, from the news, and try to run away from the truth. I heard footsteps following me but I didn't stop. I didn't want to be caught. I didn't want to be forced to deal with the truth, I didn't want to face it. I shook my head no, trying to push the thoughts out, as my vision blurred by the tears and cold air. I ran out without a coat, I forgot about that. I pushed my body, pushed to go further away, only stopping when I couldn't breath. Only stopping when my legs gave out below me and my lungs burned for oxygen. I knelt in the cold snow, panting and sobbing, trying to both stop crying and get air back into my lungs. Then the white snow went dark and before I fell into the darkness I heard the crunching of snow behind me.

I ran after Chouko, having had a feeling this was going to happen. She always seems to want to run away from things when they get too hectic. I followed her out of the school and into the snow, neither of us having been dressed properly for the snow.

"Chouko! Stop!" I yelled after her, trying to get her to stop but she didn't hear me. She didn't stop and ran for quite a while. She ran well past her house and I followed, trying to keep track of where we were because I had a feeling Chouko wasn't. Then I saw her fall to the ground and rushed over to her. Right before I reached her she fell forward.

"Chouko!" I knelt down next to her and saw she just passed out. I pulled my cell phone out of my blazer pockeet and called Tachibana. "Can you get a car here quick. I'm in front of Sohma's Tea House." I heard him respond on the other side and hung up. I picked up Chouko and started to head to the closest shelter to wait.

I slowly woke up, feeling as though I had been sleeping next to a fire. I was burning up and overall I felt horrible. I sat up slightly, the moist cloth that was laying on my forehead falling into my lap, and looked around. I was laying in my own bed, which confused me greatly. Last thing I remembered was getting ready to bake a cake for Hunny-senpai at the club. Then my door opened and Haruhi walked in with a small tray with a cup and a bowl on it.

"Oh, Chouko. You're finally awake. Everyone is going to be glad to hear that . How are you feeling?" She asked as she placed the tray on the nightstand and put a hand to my forehead. I flinched slightly, her hand freezing aginst my forehead.

"Horrible. May I ask how I got here? I can't remember anything after starting that cake for Hunny-senpai." I asked, forcing my tired body to sit upright.

"Yesterday, before club, Kyouya-senpai and Tamaki-senpai found out what happened to your parents. You ran out of the club and Kyouya-senpai followed after you. I'm not sure what happened but a while after Kyouya-senpai called me and asked me if I had a spare key to your house or knew where you kept your's. Then he told me to meet him here at your house." The memories of what happened rushed my mind, making tears fall down my cheeks.

"I wish I wouldn't have asked." I said with a grimance. "Is Kyouya alright? I mean he was out there without a coat too."

"I'm just fine, you should be worrying about yourself, not me." A voice said from the doorway. I looked over to see Kyouya standing in the open doorway. "You are the one in bed with a cold after all." He started over to my bed and I felt his cold hand on my forehead.

"But I was causing trouble for everyone, I have no right to be worrying about myself, especially when I caused you to have to chase me in the cold snow." I told him, looking down at the blankets in my lap.

"Chouko, you didn't make me chase you. I went after you because of my own free will. I followed you to make sure you would be okay. You may cause some trouble for us but we deal with it because nothing would be the same without you. We can deal with it because we care." I felt the hand move off my forehead and to under my chin, making me look up. "You do have the right to worry about yourself, even if you did cause problems, you are worth it. Don't try and talk yourself down in any means."

I shyly nodded, knowing that what he was saying was going to be harder to do. Suddenly any thoughts that would've taken that even further by soft lips on mine. I was suprised at first and felt my already burning up face get even warmer before melting into the kiss. Soon he pulled away and said,"You need to rest. You should be alright tomorrow." He told me before leaving my room, letting me to think about what had just happened and what it meant, never a good thing to a cold stricken mind.

A/N

Sorry if this chapter is suckish, had writer's block and decided to write through the block. I wrote this one over a month's period and right now I'm gettting distracted by Penn and Teller: A Magic and Mystery Tour. I finally know what Teller's voice sounds like O_O I like them, and their show Bullsh*t! Anyway reviews are loved.


	10. Episode Ten

A Rose Hidden by Shadows

Chapter Ten~ Accidental Confessions

I looked through the small window on the door with my good eye, still not believing I had caused this. I shook my head, not wanting to believe it. I fell backwards into a chair against the wall opposite of the door. I couldn't believe it, I had caused it, I caused the wreck. I caused Kyouya to be lying on the hospital bed in that room, not waking up.

I sighed slightly, getting ready to head to the meeting. I was dressed in my business clothes and had everything I needed in my purse. I grabbed my coat and keys, heading out. I was glad now, that my maids had taught me how to drive. Now I had my license and a VW Bug that I rarely used unless I had to travel pretty far.

I got into the car and started it, smiling at the song that was playing on the radio. I pulled out of my driveway and started down the road towards the meeting. Suddenly my cell phone started to ring and I grabbed it out of my coat pocket, answering it right away.

"Moshi Moshi"

"Chouko, you're late to the meeting!"

"I'm on my way now!

"The meeting is already starting!"

"I can't go any fa-"

Then what I was saying was interrupted by a car horn. I dropped my cell phone, having finally noticed the limo in front of me. My car didn't stop and rammed right into the back door of the limo. Soon afterward all I could see was black.

I woke up in the hospital, my left eye not opening for some reason or another and my right leg broken at the femur. When the nurse walked in I asked about the people in the limo and found that the driver was only a little bruised but the passenger in the back didn't fair as well. I sat in the hospital bed, feeling horrible about what I had caused. Then my cell phone vibrated, having somehow survived the crash, showing I had a new text.

"Everybody get to the hospital now! Mommy was in an accident! They wouldn't tell me much about his condition but we need to support Mommy!"

I just stared at the text, knowing who was in that limo now. I called the nurse and asked to see him, that leading up to where the host club found me in the hallway.

"Chou-chan, you came to see Kyo-chan too?" Hunny asked from atop Mori's shoulders. I just shook my head.

"Chouko, what happened to your eye and leg?" Haruhi asked, noticing it quickly.

"I was in a car accident."

"You too? My poor daughter! Both Mommy and my daughter are hurt!" Tamaki said dramatically, drawing the attention of many people on that floor.

"I crashed into Kyouya's limo." I said in disbelief. That quickly caught Tamaki's attention and made him calm down.

"You were in the other car?" Haruhi asked, a bit carefully.

"I caused Kyouya to be in there." I said, not really paying attention to the others. Then everybody looked through the small window and either gasped or had a similar reaction. "I caused this. If I wasn't on that damn cell phone he would be okay. If I hadn't answered it." I clenched my fists, noticing that my cell phone was still in my hand. Without warning I threw the cell phone, as hard as I could, against the wall. Then I slunk back, my head hanging low and my hands covering my face. I was the reason the one I loved was in the hospital. I was the reason he was in a comatose state. It was entirely my fault.

I sat in the chair across from the bed Kyouya was in. I had been there since they released me which was the previous day. Then I noticed a woman walk in and gasp once she saw Kyouya. I looked over at her and noticed that she had the same eye color and hair color as Kyouya, making me sigh a bit sadly. Then she noticed me, seeming to not have noticed me before.

"I'm sorry ma'am. I'll get out so you can be alone with him." I told her, not even letting her ask me first. I got up slowly, slowed greatly by my not being used to crutches, when I heard her speak up.

"Are you Kyouya's girlfriend?" She asked quite bluntly, causing me to blush at the thought but frowned all the same.

"No ma'am, I'm just a friend of his."

"Then why were you sitting there for what seemed to have been quite a long time?"

"I felt really bad for what I have caused him and just wanted to make sure that he was okay, well as okay as he can be right now."

"It seems like there is more to your reasoning then you are telling me. By the way, I'm Kyouya's sister, Fuyumi."

"I'm Chouko Makoto." I told her, silently willing the blush adorning my cheeks to go away.

"Ah so you're the pianist and cook of my little brother's club." She said, a weak smile on her face as she glanced over Kyouya lying in the hospital bed.

"Yes, I'm really sorry for what I have caused to your brother. If I could change places with him I would gladly. Not like I have anyone to miss me anyway." The last part came out as a muttered whisper before I slowly made my way out of the room. I knew people needed their space when dealing with things like this, I just hoped he would come to soon.

Even after they had told me I could leave I stayed in that room with Kyouya. Tamaki would bring by the class work after school on certain days and the host club would sometimes visit. Sometimes the customers came with them to visit, bringing flowers or cards. I just stayed in the room, wondering how life could go on when his was stalled. Wondering how things could go on as if this had never happened. During the time I was there, I met each of Kyouya's siblings, although his brothers didn't seem to like me for some reason.

Each night I fell asleep in the chair at the foot of the hospital bed, somehow never falling off of the thing. I knew, by now, that I was going to be far behind the classes but I didn't really care. Even though I was doing the work that Tamaki would bring me and letting him turn it in for me, I was going to be behind. Somehow Tamaki managed to keep the Host Club from going under, a feat I still wondered about.

I was asleep in the chair one day a couple weeks after the accident when I was woken by someone shaking me slightly. I slowly woke up and noticed it was one of the senior nurses.

"You have a call. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to the nurses' station, alright?" I nodded slightly, not much making sense in my sleep ridden mind. She handed me the telephone receiver and I held it to my ear carefully.

"Moshi Moshi?" I asked my voice a bit hoarse.

"Is this Makoto Chouko?" The person on the other side of the line asked.

"Hai, who would this be?"

"Ootori Yoshio. I would like to meet you. How does this noon sound for you?"

"Uh sure, why don't we go to the coffee shop just down the street from the hospital?" I asked a bit unsurely.

"That sounds like a good idea. I will meet you there."

"Okay sir." Then we both hung up. That was when it hit me, I was supposed to meet Kyouya's father now. I sighed and went back to the room, the mood still being glum but how could it not be? I used the bathroom connected to the room and changed into some of the nice clothes Haruhi had dropped off for me.

I walked down the street, finally having gotten the hang of using crutches, and was heading to the coffee shop. Once I walked in I asked the waitress if Mr. Ootori had already arrived. She directed me back to one of the tables towards the back of the room. I slowly made my way back and asked the man if he was Mr. Ootori.

"Ah, Miss Makoto, take a seat." I nodded and shyly took the seat in front of him. "So I understand you are close to my son, Kyouya"

"We're friends sir."

"From what I've been told you two seemed to be getting very close." I started to try to deny it, thinking that he wouldn't be okay with any of it, but was stopped when he continued. "You two can get as close as you want. It might be good for the Ootori group to dabble a bit in the food industry. I just warn you now, we won't be responsible for you, you have to continue and not rely solely on my son. You are the one that changed him after all."

I just nodded my head, surprised at what he was telling me really. "Well it seems that this meeting has gone very well. Maybe we can meet again, Miss Makoto."

"Yes sir." Was all I really said before he bid me a good day and left. I got up and started back to the hospital, thinking about what had just happened and what had happened earlier on. Apparently Kyouya's father was okay with the idea of me and him being together as long as I didn't rely solely on Kyouya. I felt a blush rise to my cheeks at the thought of the two of us but quickly shook my head, he could do better then me.

I arrived back to the hospital and went back to the room Kyouya was, sighing sadly. I hated seeing him like that, hooked up to wires and unmoving. He was supposed to be sitting at a table in the host club, typing away at his laptop. I sighed again, knowing that as long as he wasn't waking up I'd be here. It was the least I could do to pay back for the trouble I have caused him. I hit his limo because of my not paying attention, it was my fault he was here and no one could really argue with that.

I sat down in the chair, starting on the English work Tamaki had dropped off yesterday. I wondered idly if the Host Club would come and visit today. It always brightened the room, even if it was just a bit, to have them around. I worked on the English, quickly losing track of time.

"Chou-chan! You're still here?" The small senior asked, hurrying in the room followed by the rest of the Host Club.

"Yeah I'm still here. You guys came for a visit?" At that he nodded and ran over to Mori and climbed up his shoulders.

"Chouko, this can't be healthy for you. Why don't you go home for a while?" Haruhi asked me seriously.

"I don't know, I guess guilt upon other things really. Right now this is where I am most comfortable though, here I know that he is okay, at least in some form. If I were to leave, I would do nothing but worry about if he is still okay and if anyone would tell me if anything happened." I told her, shaking my head slightly at how stupid I sounded. It seemed like I was a bit desperate.

The visit went on for a while longer, some of the hosts giving me sympathetic glances every now and then. I wonder why they were looking at me that way, what were they seeing that I wasn't? Soon though visiting hours were over and they went home, I still wondered why the nurses hadn't chased me out but for whatever reason I was grateful.

Then, nearly a month later, I was sitting doing more of the homework when I heard someone groan slightly. I looked over to the bed, wondering, hoping, that Kyouya was waking up. I moved my chair to one side of the bed and watched him for a little while. Soon I noticed he wasn't showing any other signs of waking up. I hung my head, tears already starting to fall down my cheeks, and gently took his hand.

"Kyouya, I'm sorry for all of this. I'm so sorry. If I could trade places with you I gladly would. You have your family who worry about you and your friends. There are only a couple people who would care for me and I'm sure they would leave once they realized how much trouble I am. I wish you would wake up, I hate seeing you hooked up to medical equipment like this. It scares me but I guess more then all it's because I love you. I love you, Kyouya."

By the time I was finished talking my head was almost resting on the bed. Then I noticed that his hand had, at some point during my talking, tightened around mine. My head shot up and looked at him, more tears falling from my eyes. He was awake, he was finally awake.

"You're awake! You're finally awake." I said, leaning down and hugging him. I was cry again, or still, and started to hiccup slightly.

"Chouko, what happened?" Kyouya asked me. I pulled away from him and explained what had happened and how long he had been out, half expecting him to not want to see me after putting him in here. "And you were here the entire time?"

"Most of it. At one point your father wanted to talk to me. It was an odd day. He said that if we were to ever to, uh….. get together that he wouldn't stop us as long as I don't depend solely on you." I blushed at the thought, apparently that being common for me.

"Chouko?"

"Yeah?" I looked at him, wiping my cheeks with the sleeve of my shirt.

"I love you too."

A/N

Gah, sounded good when I first wrote it but copying it down from my notebook it doesn't sound as good. This chapter sucks, in my opinion. It doesn't make sense but oh well, at least I didn't leave a cliffy, I don't think I did anyway. Well I completely screwed up Yoshio, probably Fuyumi too, and made this sound stupid. But then again this is my longest chapter, 2,376 words. It's longer then the one in my notebook, kinda revised. Gah I need to shut up! Reviews are loved and a little needed to get me off my lazy ass and write. They motivate me.

Oh, Happy Thanksgiving ^_^


	11. Episode Eleven

A Rose Hidden by Shadows

Chapter Eleven~ It's All I'll Ever Be

I walked down the halls of Ouran, lost in my thoughts and the music blaring in my ears. I was walking with Kyouya, talking about the next theme for the Host Club, but he had left shortly before. I looked around after my music stopped, hearing the other students talking. Some of the girls were glaring at me, making me wonder what I had done to anger them. I pulled my mp3 player out of my skirt pocket and started to browse through the songs I had saved on my it, some saved to the small SD card conceled in the slot on the side. Suddenly I felt someone grab my wrist, holding it tightly to the point of pain. I yelped slightly, dropping my mp3 player to the ground.

"So you think you can just waltz in and join the Host Club and take away my Kyouya?" A girl said, her voice seeming familiar to me.

"I didn't steal anyone or anything from anybody." I said, trying to get the person holding my wrist to let go, I felt nails dig into my skin and moisture run down my arm.

"Who are you trying to kid? If I catch you near the Host Club anymore you won't have to worry about that little commoner friend you have. I would think wisely if I were you." I looked up at the girl, trying my best not to cry from both pain and the thought of causing anything to happen to my friends. I noticed that it was another girl in the same class as me, Akane Tanashi. She was actually a very pretty girl, long gentle curled hair that reached her mid back, lightly tanned, and a curvy figure. I nodded, hoping that she would let go of my wrist.

"Good, now get out of here, freak." She shoved my arm against me, causing me to tumble back and fall to the floor. I quickly grabbed my mp3 player and took off, running to the girl's bathroom to clean the newly aquired cuts on my arm.

I walked into the bathroom, tears already falling down my cheeks. I tried to take a breath, trying to stop the crying, but let out an odd high pitched sob. I walked over to the sink and started to run water, pulling my sleeve from my wrist. I noticed that the light blue sleeve was stained a bit and blood was dripping down my hand into the sink. I ran water over the cuts, wincing at the water.

"I should've know this would happen. Something always happens. I guess I should never be happy, at leat then it wouldn't cause any trouble for anyone else." I sobbed out, grabbing some paper towels to wrap around my cuts till I could properly care for them. I walked out of the bathroom, knowing what I was going to do now.

"Chouko, why are you late?" I heard Haruhi ask as I walked into the club. They hadn't opened yet, but everyone was already dressed in today's cosplay. I shook my head slightly before heading over to Kyouya, trying not to cry again thinking of what I was getting ready to do.

"Kyouya?" I said softly, not wanting to think about the Host Club that was watching me as I spoke. Kyouya looked up from his laptop and looked over to me. "I'm quiting the Host Club. I'm sorry, I won't come back here anymore." I bowed slightly to him and turned to bow at the others.

"Chouko why are you leaving like this?" Haruhi asked, stepping in front of me to stop me from leaving. "You love it here, I know you love it here. Why are you suddenly leaving?"

I shook my head giving Haruhi a sad smile and started to head out of the room. "My daughter is leaving? Why are you leaving so suddenly?" I heard Tamaki yell, making it harder for me. These people felt like family to me, even if not by blood then by bonding.

"Tamaki please, don't." I said, trying not to let the tears gathering in my eyes to fall.

"Then why are you leaving?" Hikaru and Kaoru said in unison, both of them standing behind Haruhi, all waiting for my answer. I shook my head again, feeling the tears start to slip down my cheeks, and walked around them. Once I was clear of the twins and Haruhi I broke into a run and ran out of the Host Club.

~With the Host Club, Third POV~

The entire club looked out the double doors, wondering what had come over Chouko. Then Haruhi looked back at Kyouya and asked something.

"Did you notice the blood on her sleeve?" She asked, thinking that either he or Mori would've noticed the red on the light blue.

"Yes I did notice it. I wonder what happened to cause that and more then that, what caused her to suddenly drop out of the club. I don't think it was of her own will." Kyouya said, the light glinting off his glasses and hiding his eyes.

"Well I know when we were little Chouko was being bullied most of the time. It was an odd thing that I was younger but stuck up for her. It seemed to be the first time anyone had stuck up for her too." Haruhi said, thinking back on when they were younger.

"Do you think she is still being bullied, Haru-chan?" Hunny said from beside Mori.

"I'm not sure, she seemed to have changed in the time that she and I ahd lost contact. She may have been bullied inbetween those times and may still be bullied." HAruhi said, concern showing through for her friend. Each of the members of the Host Club then began talking about different theroys that may explain Chouko's sudden quit.

~With Chouko~

Chouko walked down the hall, trying to stop the tears from falling down her cheeks. Suddenly someone started to laugh, a shrill laugh that cut the quiet. Chouko looked up and saw Akane and some other girls that she didn't reconize.

"So you left the Host Club? That's a good girl, now we may leave that commoner alone. Maybe." She laughed again, the same shrill laugh.

"Please, don't do anything to her. I'll do anything, please just leave Haruhi out of this. He has nothing to do with this." Chouko pleaded with the girl.

"Well maybe, but you need to do somethings for me." Akane said, smirking at the other girl.

"Sure, I'll do it." Chouko said, not seeming to want to do anything for this girl.

"Okay then, follow me. I'll tell you what I need from you as we walk." Akane laughed again before leading Chouko down the hall, already having ideas on how to get rid of the seemingly scared girl.

~Skip a Week~

Chouko followed behind Akane, carrying more books then she needed due to having to carry Akane's books. She wore a fake smile on her face, covering the sadness behind a mask. Akane hadn't let her talk to any of her friends in the past week, even taking up her weekends. She had stayed up all night doing both her homework and Akane's. Finally exaustion had taken her and Chouko stumbled, falling over and dropping all the books. She yelped in pain and looked at her ankle, which a twisted in an odd way.

"Chouko if you aren't more careful you'll fall on me you freak. Do you want me to pay a visit to Haruhi?" Akane said irratably. Chouko just sat there, nursing her ankle. "Fine then, lets go see your little commoner friend." Akane spat angrily before walking off. Chouko looked up, worried for her friend. What had she gotten Haruhi into now?

~At The Host Club~

Akane walked up to the double doors, noticing that Haruhi was standing outside them getting ready to head in. "Haruhi-kun! Can I talk to you?" She called to him, smiling her sweet smile. Haruhi nodded before headng over, Akane's smile turning to a smirk. She reached out to grab Haruhi's arm when something hit her and caused her to fall to the ground.

"What was...?" Akane went to say before being cut off by someone punching her in the side. She rolled over, groaning in pain as Haruhi gasped.

"You leave my friends out of this! If you want to hurt someone hurt me! I'm the one you have a problem with, right?" Chouko yelled angrily at the girl on the ground. "I'm tired of you holding the threat of hurting my friend over my head! If you were going to pick a fight then pick one with me! Not someone a year below you! That's the cowardly way to go about things you bitch!" Chouko shouted again, not noticing that the Host Club had wandered out of the Third Music Room and into the hall.

"You shouldn't have stolen him from me!" Akane yelled, standing up and holding her side. "If you hadn't come to this school everything would've been fine you little freak!" She yelled before reaching out and grabbing a fistfull of Chouko's hair.

Chouko yelped in pain and punched at Akane, missing her. Akane smirked and went to hit Chouko, hitting her cheek and causing Chouko's glasses to come off and slid across the floor. Chouko yelped and swung wildly at Akane, hitting her in the stomach and neck. Once she was free from her grip she stood straight, facing Akane. Akane glared at Chouko, getting ready to hit her again, before someone stepped in front of Chouko.

"Thank you, Mori-senpai." Kyouya said, Chouko noticing that the person who stepped between her and Akane had indeed been Mori-senpai and he was hotlding Akane's wrist. "Now that we know, we would like to say that you, Miss Tanashi, are hereby banned from the Host Club. If you are seen messing with any of our members again I won't hesitate to call the Headmaster." Kyouya stated. Akane was about to fight it, placing the blame on Chouko, when Mori grabbed her shoulders and led her away from the club.

Chouko smiled slightly, glad to be rid of the girl who tore her from her friends, when she remembered the pain in her ankle. She collapsed to the floor, holding her ankle and putting a hand to where Akane had hit her, noticing that it was wet there. She was concentrating on willing the pain away before she realized that someone had picked her up and was carrying her into the club room.

"Chouko, are you okay?" Kyouya asked as he placed her down on one of the couches within the Third Music Room. Chouko went to say something but just shook her head and wrapped her arms around Kyouya's chest, sobbing into his shirt. She was suprised when she felt him gently wrap his arms around her. The two sat there for a bit before Chouko leaned back and wiped her eyes.

"I'm sorry Kyouya." She said, looking to the wet spot at the front of his shirt then noticing a crimson splotch. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to stain your.." She was interupted when Kyouya pulled her into a hug.

"Don't ever do anything stupid like that again." Kyouya said into Chouko's hair,making her nod slightly. He let go of her and smiled slightly. "Let me go get the First Aid kit." He then stood up and walked off, soon returning with a small white box and went to work on Chouko's cut and ankle.

"Thank you, Kyouya." Chouko said, as Kyouya wrapped her ankle. "Thank you for everything."

A/N

Chouko is 5'5" Kyouya is 5'11" and Haruhi is 5'0" Chouko is 6 inches shorter then Kyouya and 5 inches taller then Haruhi. Gah, I wrote this bit before I actually finished the chapter cause I knew I would forget. Wow, that had no relevance to the previous chapter at all. I just had an idea while listening to Take it Off by Kesha. Most shown by the freak thing but yeah. Anyway please tell me what you would like to see in the story and/or any idea you think would make this story better, I have basicly written myself into a corner T_T Anyways please ignore the grammer or spelling errors that I may (probably) have made, I'm on a different computer that doesn't have the same software as my desktop, meaning no spell check.


	12. Episode Twelve

A Rose Hidden by Shadows

Chapter Twelve~ Turbulent Waters

I wonder when he will realize I'm not worth it, when he will leave me for someone worth his time. I can't help these thoughts, I hope he won't and I want to think that he won't but I also think that I'm not worth him. I've caused trouble, I can't do much to help him even if I want to. How can I continue like this, trying to convince myself that I am worthy of him. I'm a far cry from anything that he should be with and it just breaks my heart to think that I'll have to let him go. I also know that I shouldn't hold on to him, that he should be able to do what he pleases and do what will make him happy.

Ugh, I had to get that out, now on to everything else that is on my poor thought abused mind. Finals are in a week, we'll be going on summer break after them and I'm looking forward to it. Everyone is supposed to be going to the beach for a week to just relax. I can wait to go except I can't really swim so that begs the question why am I going? I like to be on the beach is the answer to that one, I like feeling the hot sand on my feet and the cool water against my legs. Ah, this should be a good break, oh I need to close this. I need to study and get ready to head to bed, well I guess I'll talk to you later weird nonexistent person.

Chouko clicked out of the program she was typing away in and opened the note book sitting next to her keyboard to start studying. She sighed slightly, tucking a strand of her brown hair behind her ear and out of her face. She continued to study for a while, growling slightly out of frustration every now and then.

"Why do I have to keep thinking about the trip that is supposed to take place in a bit over a week." Chouko sighed, a light blush creeping across her pale cheeks. She stood up, noticing that it was late, and started to get ready for bed. She changed into her light pajamas and crawled into bed, quickly falling into a deep sleep.

Chouko stood next to Haruhi just outside the limo and looked over the large beach. Chouko smiled before taking off her flip flops and running off, yelping at the heat of the pavement. Haruhi laughed a bit before following her friend and heading to find the others who had taken off and let Haruhi with the job of waking Chouko.

"Chouko, don't you think it would've been better to take off your flip flops after reaching the beach?" A cool voice asked from behind Chouko, who was resting her feet in the cool ocean water to cool them off. Chouko looked behind her and laughed, knowing that what Kyouya spoke was the truth.

"You try thinking clearly when you were just woken from a great sleep. Also try that and add something you like into the equation, your mind doesn't think too clearly." She laughed again before tossing her flip flops onto the beach towel she had laid out a little ways away. "So Kyouya what are you going to do on this nice afternoon on the beach?"

"Well if you would be so minded, I would like to walk with you." Kyouya responded with a slight smile tugging at his lips. Chouko smiled and nodded before standing next to him, walking between him and the ocean. "So you've finally gotten things under control with your business?"

"Yeah, took a bit longer considering a lot of the employees don't really want to take orders from a teenager, a girl much less." Chouko said, a hint of sadness creeping into her normally cheery voice. She shook her head before continuing in her normal tone. "I'm so glad I can take a break from school and everything and hang out here on the beach with everyone. It should be a fun week, don't you think?"

"Yes, it should be interesting to say the least." Kyouya nodded before walking a bit further with Chouko, just chatting about nothing in particular.

The two had been walking until the sun hung low along the horizon, then decided to head back and get everyone settled into their rooms. Everyone was settled in their rooms by the time dinner was ready. Everyone then made their way to the dinning room and were chatting happily. Chouko talked to Hikaru and Kaoru about random things, mostly about pranks the two had pulled in the past. Chouko sat between Kyouya and Kaoru, Haruhi in front of her. Hikaru was sitting in front of his twin and Tamaki was sitting in front of Kyouya, beside them were Hunny and Mori. Chouko chatted a bit with Kaoru, laughing as he told her of some of the prank Hikaru and he had pulled. She was about to tell him of something she and one of her friends had pulled their last year in middle school but the maids brought in the food before she could say anything. As one of the maids placed her plate in front of her she nodded and said a small thank you to her before turning to eat.

The dinner was mostly made of sea food, crabs, fish, and shrimp being a few things. Chouko ate a bit of the crab but didn't really eat anything else, hardly really touching her fish and shrimp.

"What's wrong Chouko?" Kyouya asked, noticing that she wasn't eating much at all.

"Oh, nothing. I just don't care much for fish or shrimp." Chouko told him, smiling a little. She didn't mention that her family used to eat fish all the time, that it brought back memories from when she was little.

"Oh, I'll see to it that the cooks prepare something different for you." Kyouya said, turning back to his food.

"No Kyouya, you don't need to do that. I don't want to cause them any more trouble by having to prepare something different for me. I can deal with it." Chouko reassured him, smiling to him. He just nodded, eating the shrimp that was left on his plate before standing.

"I'm going to be heading to my room now." He said, turning to walk off towards the rooms. Chouko stood up and followed him.

"I'll be heading off to everyone, good night." She told everyoone before following Kyouya down the hallway. "So are you going to work on teh club finances before heading to bed?"

"Yes, I would like to have them all worked out before we return to school, and maybe have a few themes down as well. Why were you asking?" He glanced over at her before continuing down the hall.

"I was wondering if maybe I could hang out with you for a while. I wasn't planning on going to sleep for a couple hours still." Chouko answered him, smiling slightly. Kyouya gave a slight nod before opening the door to his room and letting Chouko in then closed it after he was in the room. He walked over to the table that was sitting in his room and opened hi laptop, hitting a key to bring it out of sleep, and started to work on the finances.

Chouko sat down on the bed and watched him, noticing that he could type pretty quickly. She shook her head and looked out the window to the clear starry sky outside. She smiled slightly, knowing that somewhere behind those stars were her mother and father watching her, but the thought brought a frown to her lips. She didn't really want to think about her parents being gone but it was the harsh reality that she was stuck in. It was going to be her burden to bear until she finally got over the grieving process.

"Chouko, are you alright?" She heard Kyouya ask from his seat not that far from her.

"Yeah, why?" She asked him, wondering what would lead him to believe that she wasn't okay, even if it was the truth.

"I looked over and you were crying while looking out the window. Are you sure you're okay?" He asked again, watching her closely.

Chouko wiped her cheeks and found that she had indeed been crying. She shook her head, trying not to cry anymore, and said,"I didn't know you could cry without noticing it." She wanted to change the topic, and hoped that Kyouya would go along with it.

Kyouya just watched her for a bit more before going back to his work. Chouko stood up and stretched, looking around the plain room. The only thing that was different about it was a suitcase sitting in the corner closest to the door. She walked around the room, looking in drawers and cabinets. She was looking in a large wardrobe before a voice called her back from her thoughts of Narnia.

"Why are you going through my dressers and such?" Kyouya asked from behind her, effectively scaring her and causing her to fall into the large wardrobe.

"Well besides being scared into Narnia, I got curious to see if anything was here. Really the only thing that seems to be new to the room is your suitcase and ourselves." Chouko stated, climbing out of the wardrobe and standing next to Kyouya.

"I thought Narnia only existed in a movie." Kyouya stated, missing the humor, if there was any, in Chouko's statement.

"Anywhere can be Narnia if you have the imagination. Hell anywhere can be anything if you have a good enough imagination. I bet Tamaki could." Chouko laughed slightly, visualizing the tall blonde walking into a wardrobe because he believed it would whisk him away to a new land.

Kyouya chuckled slightly before saying,"It is getting late. You should probably head on to bed." Chouko just nodded her head before bidding Kyouya a good-night and heading to her room next door.

Chouko chased after Hikaru and Kaoru who were running a good distance in front of her. Each of them were holding up something different. Kaoru was holding up Chouko's tattered blanket while Hikaru was holding her stuffed animal baby sea turtle. Chouko was yelling at them, also cursing a bit. Then, when she had almost caught them, she tripped on a piece of washed up driftwood and fell face first into the sand. After pulling herself up she just stared into the sand in front of her, not making any motions to move.

Hikaru and Kaoru slowed down when they noticed she wasn't behind them any more, and looked back. They saw Chouko was sitting in the sand, staring off into. They inched closer and noticed she was biting her lip. By now the entire host club had noticed something was up and were gathering around. Haruhi noticed what was going on and started to talk to Chouko.

"Chouko, you need to calm down. I'm sure they wouldn't do anything to harm either Blankie or your turtle." Haruhi told the older teen sitting in the sand. Chouko just shook her head before glaring at the twins.

"You know where those came from? Huh? That turtle is the last thing my parents gave me before they left on the trip that killed them. That blanket? It was what my grandparents gave me, that and some pictures are all I have left of them. Now, do you think I enjoy finding that both were taken by a couple of pranksters that managed to do nothing more then cause trouble and get on people's nerves! Do you think I like having the last things I had taken away! It isn't fun!" Chouko shouted at the two, by the end tears were streaming down her cheeks from anger and sadness.

"The people who gave me those I'll never see again. I would like to keep the things they trusted me to take care of is as good of shape as I can but it seems like that won't work. So go ahead, play with them, do what you want. I don't care anymore." Chouko got up from the beach, wiping her cheeks and eyes with her arms, and started to walk back to the beach house. She didn't want to deal with anyone, not after that explosion.

Haruhi glared at the twins before saying,"You know she bottles everything. She never lets anything out until she can't handle it. Most of the time she breaks down and cries but sometimes she goes off on people, which makes her feel horrible for doing later. You two should think carefully before you act next time." She then walked after Chouko, knowing she was going to lock herself in her room. She always did the same thing, quite predictable really, but when things got bad at least she was easy to find.

Haruhi stood outside Chouko's locked door, trying to talk her out of the room. Chouko had been locked in there for a while now and refused to come out, it seeming a bit childish actually.

Chouko sat in the floor of her room, leaning against the foot of her bed. She felt bad about going off on the twins but they shouldn't have gone through her things. Still she knew she shouldn't have handled it like she did and was embarrassed by what she did. Chouko sighed slightly before walking over to her laptop and finding one of the stations that streamed out of the U.S, she always liked variety in her music.

"Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars? I could really use a wish right now, wish right, wish right now." She sang along with the song playing through her speakers. She looked outside towards the beach and the ocean, remembering a trip she had once taken with her family. She had made a friend at the beach and he took her last root beer and ran, both of them laughing. It was a fun experience for her.

Chouko barely heard a knock on her door over the music she was playing loudly. She walked over and paused it, asking who it was on the other side of the door.

"It's Kaoru," "And Hikaru." "We would lie to apologize. We didn't realize how much those meant to you." The two said from the other side of the wooden door.

Chouko walked over to the door, opening it a bit, and stepped out. She didn't meet anyone's eyes as she said,"I'm the one who should be apologizing, I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. For that I am sorry." Suddenly she was pulled into an embrace from both sides, noticing it was the twins.

"Aw, you're so cute~!" The two said, creating a stereo effect in Chouko's ears.

"I guess all is forgiven?" Haruhi asked, barely suppressing a laugh.

Chouko nodded before saying,"But if they do that again I'm going to punch the both of them really hard." The three laughed a bit before heading back to the beach where the others had remained.

"This is going to be an interesting week" Chouko said to herself, knowing that more was in store for them just by the first couple days.

A/N

Sorry about the previous chapter, it sucked really badly. . Anyway I hope this one is up to par, and makes up a bit for the dissappointment of the last chapter. Anyway I'm finally out of my rut and writing more then ever XD Anyways reviews are always loved.

The song was Airplanes by B.O.B feat Haylee Williams, a great song by the way.


	13. Episode Thirteen

A Rose Hidden by Shadows

Chapter Thirteen~ Quiet Murmurings

Chouko sat, her head resting on her crossed arms, looking out her open window to the beach shroud in the darkness of the moonless night. She could hear the waves and smell the salty air coming from the ocean. She sighed slightly, staring at the starry sky. She was reading online but a cool breeze blew in from her window and made her want to look out the window.

"Chouko?" She was woken up by a soft voice and someone shaking her. Chouko rubbed her eyes and sat up, looking to the person to find Haruhi kneeling next to her. "Chouko, why were you sleeping on the floor?" She asked, glancing slightly at the open window.

"Oh, I was looking out it last night and I guess I just fell asleep. So anyways, whats up?" Chouko asked, stretching and trying to pop her back, which was aching from sleeping on the not so cushioned floor.

"Tamaki wants everyone together to go out and get breakfast. You should get ready, he wants to leave soon." Haruhi told the older teen.

"There is never any way around his plans." She sighed slightly before continuing,"Go on, tell him I'll be out in a while. I need to just get dressed and everything. Shouldn't take too long." Haruhi nodded before heading out to tell Tamaki that Chouko would be ready in a short bit.

Chouko walked down the stairs, pushing on her lower back trying to get it to pop, and yawned a bit. She was wearing a black tank top with a purple plaid button up over it and a pair of loose black jeans.

"Okay so where are we going?" Chouko asked, noticing that the clock had chimed indicating that it was 10 in the morning. She grumbled to herself, something that sounded like she didn't eat till noon normally.

"Theres this little dinner down the street, I thought we would stop there and get breakfast." Tamaki told everyone proudly. "The only problem is waking up Kyouya." Him and the twins shivered a bit, thinking about it.

"I'll go get him. Shouldn't be too hard." Chouko shrugged before heading up the stairs, totally missing the pleads from the rest of the host club.

She walked down the hall, thinking idly about what she would order for breakfast. Once she came to Kyouya's door she knocked on it before quietly opening it and heading into the room. Chouko looked around slightly before heading over to his bed to wake him up.

"Hey Kyouya. You need to wake up, we're al going to go get breakfast." Chouko said quietly while shaking Kyouya's shoulder to wake him up. She noticed that his laptop was still open but the screen had long since gone into sleep mode.

Suddenly Chouko was pulled down and pinned, looking up to find the sleep hazed eyes of Kyouya. She blushed a bit before saying," Kyouya, everybody is going to go out to get breakfast." He showed no signs of recognizing her before he suddenly just fell back asleep. Chouko sighed slightly, knowing she couldn't really move with one of Kyouya's arms around her waist and her arm pinned under his chest.

"Chouko?" She heard from the doorway. She looked over to see the rest of the host club standing there, a bit shocked by the two's position.

"Um, yeah Tamaki. I don't think either me or Kyouya will be going to breakfast. Just go on, we'll meet up with you guys later." A dark blush was now covering Chouko's cheeks, given the situation it was understandable. Tamaki just stared, getting ready to yell about something before Haruhi just pushed him out of the doorway and towards the front door.

After the club was gone Chouko looked at Kyouya's sleeping face, noticing that he seemed to be at peace for the moment. She smiled slightly before looking back to the ceiling, thinking. Soon she had fallen asleep and didn't notice her thoughts had changed to dreams.

Kyouya stirred a bit, yawning, before he noticed that something warm was leaning against him. He looked next to him and saw Chouko sleeping next to him. He was a bit shocked, trying to figure out what was going on when Chouko startled awake. She looked over to Kyouya who was watching her curiously.

"Um, I tried to wake you up cause everyone wanted to go get breakfast but you didn't get up and pinned me here." Chouko said blushing darkly, as she pointed to his arm around her and her arm under him. Kyouya quickly sat up, letting Chouko get up on the other side of the bed.

"Why didn't you wake me up instead of falling asleep?" Kyouya asked, a curious tone leaking into his voice.

"Well I thought you might've been up late because your laptop was still open and you looked very peaceful." Chouko blushed before suddenly standing up. "I'll go get you something for breakfast." She then quickly left the room, embarrassed. Kyouya sat on the edge of his bed, watching out after her.

Chouko walked down the empty hallway, trying to get the blush off her cheeks. She really wasn't sure what she was thinking when she decided not to wake him back up. She sighed slightly, thinking about how stupid her decision was. Once Chouko was finally in the kitchen she started to cook a few eggs and some other breakfast foods, mostly lost in thought the entire time.

Once she was finally finished she placed the food on a tray and started back to serve breakfast. As she walked she hummed an nice piano tune she remembered hearing, it calmed her a bit. Maybe if she could find a piano in the large house she would practice playing.

Kyouya typed away at his laptop, working on something for the club. He sighed slightly before placing his glasses on the keyboard and rubbing the bridge of his nose between two fingers. His thoughts were mostly on earlier. In a way he hoped he hadn't upset Chouko but in another he wanted to know why she fell asleep there.

"Kyouya, I fixed some breakfast." Chouko stated as she walked into the room. She placed the tray on a nearby table and smiled. "Well I'm going to go, wait never mind. I'm going to go find a piano, yeah. That's what I was going to say." Chouko thought for a bit before heading out and searching for a piano.

Kyouya just watched her curiously, wondering what she was going to say before she stopped herself. He shrugged slightly before walking over and looking at the food Chouko left. She had fixed an omelet with some toast and tea. The smells were more spicy and the tea smelled of mint. Kyouya smirked slightly before sitting down and starting to eat.

Chouko wandered into the living room and noticed the piano sitting in the corner of the room facing the window. She smiled slightly before sitting down and doing a few warm up exercises. She then started to play the tune she was humming, frowning a bit at the emotion behind it. The emotion brought back things she would rather not think about, things she would rather forget about.

As she played tears started to stream down her cheeks, not making themselves know to her. Her eyes were shut, the tears leaking from the corners of her eyes, as she played. Chouko was trying to get the happy memories back, the good times, but her mind wouldn't let her. She soon stopped, mid-way through the song, and sat on the piano bench.

"I shouldn't have played that one, I forgot how sad it was when it first starts out." She said to herself, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her button up. She didn't notice Kyouya standing in the open doorway, or the voices drawing closer to the room. It didn't seem that Kyouya noticed either as he walked over to Chouko.

He sat on the piano bench and pulled her to him. She didn't fight him and leaned against his chest, trying to stop herself from crying. Neither noticed the voices suddenly go silent as they looked on at the room occupants. Kyouya was running his hand over Chouko's hair, trying to calm her down, while Chouko just hugged him.

A/N

Okay so this chapter is kinda random and weird, sorry for that. I wanted to use a song I found on newgrounds, you guys should search it. Search [oove] Heartbeats, it was used in a game called Colour My Heart, it's really good and that's also the song I wanter Chouko to play on the piano but you can put whatever song you want there. As long as it induces a sad emotion then it should work.

Anyway this one is also a very long chapter, so if you don't like long chapters I'm sorry, I enjoy to read a story with long chapters cause it gives me more to read in a short amount of chapters. So the next one might be more about the twins, seeing as their birthday is in the summer. Maybe, I don't know. So either way, review to show your love for the story, oh god I'm starting to get bad about reviews. But they do make me update faster, anyway please send in any songs, piano or otherwise, you think would work in the story.

Thank you,

Areikoto


	14. Episode Fourteen

A Rose Hidden by Shadows

Chapter Fourteen~ Emotions Shown by Reflections

Chouko just sat there, accepting the comfort that Kyouya gave her. The tears had finally stopped falling from her eyes and she pulled back. She gave a bit of an humorless laugh before finally speaking.

"I'm sorry, it seems ever since we met I've been nothing but trouble to you and the others around me. I'm sorry." Chouko shook her head a bit before Kyouya put his hand on her head.

"You aren't trouble, not to anyone. Stop thinking that way, you'll never be any trouble to any of us." Kyouya told her with a slight smirk before getting up and heading towards the dinning area. Chouko just sat, thinking for a while. Was he really truthful in what he said or was it all a lie? That was a thought that ran trough her head a lot. She shook her head slightly before taking her cell phone from her pocket. She had a feeling about something and wanted to make sure she was right about it.

"I was right. I guess I need to get to work then." Chouko stood up quickly and went to the kitchen, her mind already going over many possible ideas at once. She smiled, tomorrow was going to be a good day, hopefully.

Chouko stood in front of one of the breakfast bars, staring at her creations. She had remembered that Hikaru and Kaoru's birthday was today and she had made them each a cake. It had been a bit hard, trying to figure out what to put on the individual cakes that wasn't a reference to the other twin. So on Hikaru's cake she put orange fondant roses and a few other edible things that she remembered from some of his pranks. On Kaoru's she put light blue roses, similar to his brother's, but put things that reminded her of the nice things he had done.

"Hey, what are you doing up so early?" Haruhi asked from behind Chouko, looking around to see the cakes. She noticed the designs and looked back to Chouko. "Today is their birthday? I guess I need to get something for the little trouble makers." Haruhi laughed a bit and was soon joined by Chouko.

"Hey we could go out now and get them some things. I had an idea of what I wanted to get Hikaru anyway." Haruhi nodded her head before following the older teen out of the house and to the street.

The two teens had made a bad choice. They had found presents but with that they lost their way home. Chouko stood, looking towards the direction of the sun, but it didn't help much with it being near noon.

"Last time I ever let you lead me anywhere. You are always getting lost." Haruhi sighed and looked around, trying to find anything familiar that would point them towards the resort. Chouko continued to look, trying to at least get a glimpse of something.

"Hey, if I could see the ocean then it would be alright. We'd just have to follow it north but I don't know which way is which." Chouko plopped down on one of the benches near by with a sigh. "The thing is, I forgot my cell phone at the house and I don't know the number. Do you know anyone's number, maybe we can use that pay phone." Haruhi thought for a bit before nodding, she could remember Tamaki's number but she didn't know what good that would do.

Chouko nodded before leading Haruhi over to the pay phone and putting money in. Haruhi told her the numbers to dial, warning her who would be on the other side.

"Hello?" The voice was cool, not like Tamaki's.

"Kyouya?" Chouko was very confused now.

"Chouko, why are you calling from a pay phone?"

"Haruhi and I got lost in town. We went out earlier to get the twins some presents and yeah. Now we have no idea how to get home." Kyouya sighed on the other side of the line before speaking again.

"Wait where you are, we'll come get you." Then the line went dead.

"Okay so Kyouya is going ot save us." Chouko laughed a bit, that would make it the second time he had to find her when she got lost.

Chouko and Haruhi sat in the back of the limo, talking with the twins about nothing. They had already given them their gifts and were now just chatting.

"If you use that book for evil I will smack you upside the head with it, got that Hikaru?" Chouko said before laughing at her own comment soon joined by Hikaru laughing.

"If you didn't want that then why get me the book? I mean scary stories?" Hikaru laughed, not finding any other use for it.

"I know but it will help you more during things like the Haunt Fest. Just don't scare that poor kid, your class rep. He got enough of that last year from you two." Chouko shook her head slightly, hoping that he would listen to her word.

"I got it!" Tamaki shouted, pointing at Chouko from his seat in the limo.

"What do you have?" Chouko asked in confusion as to why he was pointing at her.

"You are the Motherly Type!" Tamaki declared proudly making Chouko slap her forehead with her palm.

"Yeah, I could've told you that, Tamaki. Still I'll just the the pianist and cook. Besides next year is our last year in high school...Holy crap!" Chouko shouted the end, not having realized earlier that it would be their last year. How time files when things are going on around you.

A/N

I'm sooooooo sorry! I didn't mean to wait so long. I was going to update but then I got sucked into writing that new story and drawing and such. Then last month I was grounded and couldn't work on anything. I'm sorry. Also I have to say that I may not be updating as much sometime this month, we are supposed to move into a new house. * squeals* I get the entire attic, which was made into a sitting room and bedroom, to myself. I warn you now, stories will get naughty XD Anyway sorry again and I want to thank those who reviewed and subscribed to the story. Thank you so much, you are what is keeping this story going. I think there will be one more big thing before it finally dies down. Maybe another 10-15 chapters, more or less. Prolly less, I tend to make things go too fast. Oh well, love all my readers.

Ja Ne

Arei


	15. Episode Fifteen

A Rose Hidden by Shadows

Chapter Fiveteen~ Unexpected Plans

The sun shone brightly through the windows, not disturbing the sleeping teen. Her short hair was spread out on the pillow around her head and her covers half kicked off. Her glasses, which she neglected to take off before she fell asleep, were pushed against the side of her face. Around her on the bed were open books and papers she had written. All in all it looked like something Kyouya would do.

Tamaki opened the door to Chouko's room before bounding in. He smiled as he stood before finally shouting. "Chou-chan! You need to wake up, today is going to be great. We need to get ready and leave now! Come on, wake up!" Tamaki shook the girl, not really understanding what he was doing. Chouko woke up and rolled over to face the blonde teen. Her sleepy gaze soon turned to a glare when she saw it was not even nine yet.

"Tamaki, I was up until 5 finishing up my summer homework, which I could've finished earlier had you not dragged me out here. Now shut up and get out of my room, I'd like to get at least another hour and a half of sleep before I have to face everyone." For good measure she chucked the closest thing she could reach at the teen, luckily for him it was a pillow. It his him square in the face before he backed up and realized what had happened.

Tamaki backed out of the room before turning and running. He was heading to Haruhi's room, that much was obvious. The day wasn't off to a good start.

Chouko slowly woke up, the noises around her not letting her peaceful rest go on for long. Then she realized she wasn't in her room and her pillow was actually a sleeping Kyouya. She shot up, looking around. Chouko found that they were on a bench in the middle of an amusment park. She looked at her clothes and found she was in a light lavender wife-beater, black loose jeans with a purple studded white belt, and her canvas shoes. She sighed slightly before going to work at waking Kyouya.

"Kyouya, you need to wake up. Tamaki got us out and we're in the middle of an amusment park. Come on, please wake up." Chouko gently shook his shoulder, trying not to anger him as he woke. He finally woke up and saw his surroundings.

"Tamaki, you imbicle, you pulled this again." Kyouya growled out as Chouko crossed one arm in front of her and used to other to prop her head up. He pulled this before? He really was an idiot. "Once I find him, he's dead." Kyouya glared as if he was looking straight at the blonde haired prince.

"Oh that won't be anything if I find out he let the twins dress me. Wait." Chouko checked her pockets, knowing if hte twins dressed her she wouldn't have anything. Luckily in her pockets were some of her money and her cell phone. "Haruhi, I owe you big time for this. At least we aren't stranded without a cell or money. We can at least call someone and get something to eat." Chouko counted the money she had and suspected it would be enough to get something to eat for the two of them.

"Yeah, that is aan upside to this situation. I promise you this, Tamaki will be repaying you the money you spend on this." Kyouya stood up and Chouko noticed what he was wearing. He was in a light t-shirt and a dark pair of cargo pants with slip on shoes. _He looks kinda good in normal clothes. Truth can be said for that uniform too._ Chouko thought to herself as she walked towards a stand that smelled like it would be good.

The two teens walked around the park, looking at all the rides. Chouko continuasly eyed the fairris wheel, something that didn't slip past Kyouya. He watched her a bit out of the corner of his eyes, wondering what she wanted to do on the fairis wheel. After a while he finally asked her what she wanted.

"Oh, nothing. It just interests me, a giant wheel that people ride on." Chouko said quickly as she turned to hide a blush that was crossing her cheeks. In reality she wanted to ride it and kiss him at the top, but she didn't have courage enough to speak up. She looked towards one of the many games and asked if they could play it.

The two had been wandering around the park for quite a while now. The sun was starting to dip low in the sky. Chouko stood and stared at the sky, at the clouds that were slowly changing colors with the sun. She smiled a bit before turning back to Kyouya.

"So what now, call Haruhi and figure out where they are or hang out here some more?" Chouko asked. She did want to get home so that she could get something to eat. The food at the amusment park was draining her limited amount of money quickly. Then again she was enjoying the time she was getting to spend with Kyouya, even though she didn't show it.

"I'll leave that decision up to you." Kyouya said cooly as he pushed his glasses back up on the bridge of his nose. Chouko nodded slightly before looking around a bit. She noticed an unocupied bench and grabbed Kyouya's hand to lead him over ot it. In truth her back and feet were killing her but it was well worth it in her eyes.

When they sat down, Chouko 'forgot' to let go of Kyouya's hand. She really liked holding it but had a supescion that he didn't. Either way he didn't say anything so they just sat and chatted. Then Chouko got an idea as Kyouya looked yet again for their friends.

"Hey Kyouya?" Chouko asked, a blush already covering her cheeks as she put her plan in motion. When he turned his head, his lips collided with Chouko's, she moved closer after she called him. When they pulled away Chouko blushed darkly but was smiling from ear to ear.

"If you wanted that, just tell me." Kyouya smirked as he leaned down and took Chouko's lips once again.


	16. Episode Sixteen

A Rose Hidden by Shadows

Chapter Sixteen~ Betrayal and Painful Thoughts

She walked slowly to the Third Music Room, her plan locked in her head. She was here on a mission and was determined to finish it. Her blonde hair flowed and curled over her back and her dark blue eyes scanned the hallway. This was Akane Tanashi, a beautiful rich girl that most boys were after at the school. What she had been hired to do was odd indeed and most would refuse but not her, this gave her just the chance that she needed.

Chouko sat at the piano, playing a simple melody for the customers to listen to. She wasn't really thinking of things going on around her but rather on the work that she had been assigned. It wasn't even two weeks into the new school year and the teachers were already assigning work and homework. It didn't really bother her though, it wasn't ever really difficult work just time consuming.

Kyouya sat on one of the elaborate couches typing away on his laptop. He was currently figuring the drop in funds that they were receiving now that Hunny-senapai and Mori-senpai had graduated. He glanced up every now and then to check and make sure Tamaki was still doing as he was supposed to. To be called king of the Host Club he was quite a dunce at times. He may have been a dunce at times but he did make people smile and brought all these people together.

After all the guests had left the Host Club members were sitting around talking about the day before heading home. Tamaki was yelling something of other about Haruhi and the twins while Chouko and Kyouya talked about the day's earnings. The two stood up and told the others that they were heading home.

"Kyouya, you go on ahead of me. I'll meet you outside; I just have to clean up my stuff." Chouko waved him off before hurrying over to the piano to clean up her sheet music. After she was finished she said bye to all the hosts and ran out, looking for Kyouya.

What greeted her at the exit of the school was surly not a sight she wanted to see. Just outside the school stood Kyouya kissing another girl with beautiful blonde hair. Chouko dropped her bag and tears started to run down her cheeks. She knew it was only a matter of time before he found someone else but that was a bad way to break up with someone. She took off, running past the two, and trying to get away. She heard Kyouya calling her and stopped for a second.

"No, you don't have to tell me. I know it's over now." Chouko said before running off again, trying not to trip over her own feet. She didn't want to see the school or anything now. Her heart was breaking and everything around her pushed further towards that end. Chouko was hurt, more so then one would think. She had left herself open for hurt this time.

Haruhi stood outside Chouko's front door trying to reach the teen. She hadn't attended school for almost a week already. Everyone in the club was worried about her and Kyouya seemed different. He wasn't acting like himself since the day they left together. No one in the club knew what happened; all they understood was Chouko had locked herself in her house and refused to talk to any of them.

"Chouko, come out. You have to get food at some point. Come on, open the door." Haruhi banged on the door again before sighing. She turned and shook her head; the Host Club came out of a bush across the street. "She won't answer. I don't know what could've happened that would make her do this. And I bet she isn't eating either." Haruhi knew Chouko and one thing about her was she didn't eat while upset.

A/N

So I ended it there. Do you hate me? Prolly for that bs move I just pulled. Two people helped me with this chapter and for that I am thankful, although I believe neither have a ff account. Either way this will continue, not sure after it all though. Anyways, later.


	17. Final Episode

A Rose Hidden by Shadows

Chapter Seventeen~ Bitter Ends

Chouko looked around her room a bit sadly, the furniture still stood where it was but a lot of her clothes and such were gone. They were in suitcases at the bottom of the stairs ready to head to their new home, her new house. She was going to leave Japan, at least for a while to just get away. Besides she needed to take care of the business in the United States. She made one final check of the rooms in the house and started to load the suitcases into her car, it was a rental so she was going to return it at the airport. After everything was in the car Chouko taped a note to the door, it was school hours and the Host Club had been coming over since she locked herself in. The note was addressed to all of them, an apology of sorts.

"Good bye everyone. I know you can't hear me now but know I won't forget you." Chouko whispered before getting into the car and driving off to the airport. Right now this was really the best thing she could do for herself, she needed to get away.

Haruhi talked with the rest of the Host Club as they walked. They were all walking to Chouko's house; they had closed the Host Club for a short time until they could get their pianist back. Kyouya was walking behind everyone when he noticed a car driving by, the person in it appearing to be Chouko. It couldn't have been though; she had refused to come out of her house since that one day. Kyouya sighed slightly, he felt bad. This was partially or fully his fault, depending on how you wanted to look at it.

As they walked Hunny-senpai pointed something out, there was something taped to Chouko's front door. The group walked over to the door and Haruhi pulled the note from the tape. She noticed quickly that it was Chouko's handwriting. She turned to the small group and read the note aloud.

_Hey Guys,_

_Sorry this is all through a note but if I had faced you guys I probably would have broken down again. I'm hoping that by the way I timed this, when you guys read this I'll be on the plane. Yeah, I'm leaving the country. I know you guys can easily follow me but I pray that you won't. I may love you guys but I need this time alone. I need to do things by myself and I need to just be alone for a while. I promise I'll come back someday but I'm betting by that time you guys will have moved on. Just know this, you guys were my family when I had none, I will never forget you guys and I'm hoping you guys won't forget me. _

_Love,_

_Chouko_

Hunny-senpai was crying by the time Haruhi finished the letter along with Tamaki. Mori was trying to console Hunny, the twins looked confused for the most part. The only surprise was Kyouya, he looked hurt by this. It looked as though his mask was finally breaking and showing what he felt inside.

"So she left us and doesn't want us to look for her?" Hikaru started. Kaoru looked at him curiously as he continued. "Then she obviously didn't care about us. I mean why would she leave us if she honestly cared about us?" Hikaru crossed his arms and turned to walk away.

"Hikaru." Kaoru said quietly as he followed his brother. Kyouya stood there, his head moved so his eyes were hidden.

"That isn't it. It was my fault she left. She saw Akane kissing me and took it the wrong way. If I could have caught up with her then I could have explained. Not that it would have made anything better between the two of us." Kyouya spoke firmly, trying to confess what was on his mind since the week began. "She did love the Host Club, and still does. If she didn't would she have left a note to tell us? Would she have asked us not to try to find her?" Kyouya just shook his head before making a call for his limo to pick him up.

This was a day of surprises and none were too good to be honest. Kyouya tried for months after to try to find where Chouko had gone to but couldn't find anything. Hikaru was acting meaner then he usually did and Kaoru was worried about him. Haruhi was trying to understand everything and Tamaki was Tamaki really. The club had changed; it seemed odd that there wasn't calming piano in the background or fresh baked sweets on the tables. It had really changed all because of one girl who was now gone.

A/N

Okay, that ending sucked but yeah. This is the final chapter. There will be a second story, a continuation if you will. But if you haven't read the manga then there will be spoilers in it. So yeah, the second will be better than the first, by far. This was started over a year ago but it goes back even further than that. So, please keep a look out for the continuation and please don't hate me for this ending. For the continuation to be any good it had to end like that.


	18. Important

Hello, I know this is finished but there is an important poll on my profile page that needs answered. It is concerning this story, so yeah.

~ Wolves


	19. Note to any Artist Fans

Hi everyone. I'm working on revising this story but I wanted to say one thing. If anyone wants to make fan art for this story, feel free to do so. I would really enjoy seeing things like that. I would love to see how all the readers percive Chouko to look like. But yeah, I'm working on getting Microsoft Office Starter to work again so I can work on the revision. So, love to everyone who is waiting for the revision and check back often because I'm going to be replacing the chapters instead of posting new ones.

Wolves 


	20. Important, New Revision has begun!

Alright, in consideration of the poll results I decided to revise this story but I decided to change it. I have the first chapter of the new story, Darkened Whispers, up and would love if everyone checked it out and told me what they think of it. It has Chouko in it but it will be following the manga more closely, or possibly going off in it's own direction. I would love to know if everyone likes that story and if I should continue doing this. Thank you.

~ Wolves


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